Meet three Spanish women leaders in the field of engineering

June 23rd is International Women Engineers’ Day, so today is celebrated all over the world. We cannot start this post in any other way than putting this celebration in context. It was first celebrated on June 23, 2014 in the United Kingdom by the Women’s Engineering Society (WES). This organization, emerged after World War I, in 1919 with the aim of advocating for women who wanted to go into industry after the war. The International Women in Engineering Day came about as a celebration of the 95th anniversary of this organization. In 2016 it gained the patronage of UNESCO. Following its success and interest internationally, in 2017 it was confirmed as an International Day.

Gender gap in engineering

The importance of celebrating this day and giving visibility to women in the world of engineering is because women are still underrepresented. The European Commission produces an annual report, She Figure 2021, to monitor progress on gender equality in research and innovation.

In 2021, it confirms that women still represent less than a quarter of ICT graduates, at 22%, and account for only a third of researchers (33%).

They also remain less likely to be employed as scientists and engineers (41%). They are also found to be underrepresented according to the number of self-employed in science, engineering and ICT, with only 25% of women.

Although at the undergraduate level women outnumber men as students, with the above data we can confirm that at the level of professional fields there is still a gap and therefore shows that we need to do more to achieve gender equality.

Spanish women in the field of engineering

At Optiva Media we are very proud to have a great team of women engineers who bring great value to our company. In addition, we want to join the celebration of this day by mentioning three women of our country experts in different fields of engineering who are undoubtedly great references for present and future generations.

Elena García Armada

(Valladolid, 1971)

Elena is an industrial engineer specialized in robotics and worked creating robots for industry. When she met Daniela, a quadriplegic child, she began to develop an exoskeleton for walking. This robot was the first and was created to help children with neuromuscular problems to walk and stand upright. She currently leads a research group at the Centre for Automation and Robotics.

Alicia Asín

(Zaragoza, 1982)

Alicia is a computer engineer and director in the world of technology. She has her own multinational company, Libelium, which works in 120 countries. It is a company dedicated to the manufacturing of devices that store and transmit data for smart cities, water management, health, and much more.

Teresa Busto

(Madrid, 1959)

Her father was an engineer and it was he who awakened her interest in engines and mechanics. She studied industrial engineering and is currently vice-president of Airbus in Spain, managing the A380, the world’s largest passenger aircraft. Today, she is president of Ellas vuelan alto, to promote equality and make the role of women in the aeronautical industry more visible.

Optiva Media works to end inequality in the workplace and promotes the participation of women in engineering, highlighting their value and the need for their knowledge and work.

If you want to know more about woman in engineering and science, take a look to our last post about women scientists in films and series and why is necessary a representing of scientifics womans in TV: Girls Just Want to Have Sums!