„Woman in technology – clichés are always in season“ – or are they?

Women in technical professions” – a constant topic on which there are many different opinions and prejudices. Despite years of efforts, one hears again and again that women in their professional qualifications – with the same training – are not taken particularly seriously and not appreciatively.

Question:

Do you feel accepted (by customers, colleagues, family) in your workplace, or is there more need for explanation or discrimination?

Verena Binder
CNC Specialist

The people around me are happy with me that I have found a job that I enjoy – there are no prejudices.
I think the biggest challenge is to put aside your own self-doubts and not ask yourself whether you can do just as good a job as a woman in a technical profession.

Frieda Klopf
Lathe operator

A lot of positive things have happened in the last few decades. As a woman in technical professions you are more and more accepted as a woman, but sometimes you still have to prove your skills a lot.

Ing. Claudia Steininger
Managing Director and Owner

I feel very comfortable and accepted in the world of technology, which corresponds more to the cliché of men. Nowadays you can convince with knowledge, but at the beginning of my professional career there was still the „technician“ who had to be male in order to be accepted.

Marlene Höbarth
Quality inspection

So, of course, as a woman you have to struggle with prejudices every day, for me there is also my height, which takes away any authority.
When a man speaks, one has to listen. Sometimes
I have the feeling that as a woman you have to be twice as committed to only be noticed half as much as a man, Nevertheless, I love my work and my colleagues are always helpful, you have to hide one or the other comment and just smile away🙂

Dipl.-Ing. Adele Brandeis
Data analyst / software development

YES – from my close professional and private environment, such as colleagues, family, friends, …. Here is the most common reaction to my choice of career: „Really cool!“
YES and NO – in the wider technical environment. Here it has happened to me more than once that I was only taken seriously when I had made it clear that I had professional experience in a technical degree. I also learned that men in the IT industry do not make mistakes in principle🙂

Marina Weiss
Software development / IT support

I decided to use IT at a time when very few people were still employed in this area. The „young technology“ of that time attracted both women and men and there were no clichés or prejudices. Although at the beginning nobody (including me🙂) could imagine what you were doing there, the reactions were always positive.

Roswitha Fler
Lathe operator

Just three or four decades ago, entry into technical professions was often a major hurdle for women and, if it was successful, you usually had to perform better than male colleagues. There was also great skepticism as to whether women even had enough technical understanding. But this image has largely changed, the men, the family, … have become much more open to the topic of „women in technology“, although unfortunately there are still opposing opinions. The atmosphere will remain masculine even longer because it is so in most people. 

Ing. Veronika Weinberger
Material testing

I can’t remember ever needing explanation about my job. I knew relatively early in which direction my interests were going, and even had an aversion to typical “women’s jobs”. Fortunately, my parents supported me in this regard, even if training in biochemical and genetic engineering was certainly unusual. I was never discriminated in any way because of my career choice. 

Christa Göschl
Distribution

I don’t feel discriminated in any way. What happens again and again with customers when you work as a woman in a “male-dominated industry”, you have to give 110% in order to be accepted. I often have the feeling with NEW interlocutors that you think what is she trying to tell me ……. But the positive thing about the conversation is that they ask questions and then I know, now it fits. But that is also a confirmation for me that I am competent🙂. And it’s fun to work in this industry. 

Nadine Haimböck
Trained plastic moulder

As a woman, working alone among men is not easy at first. First you have to assert yourself and show what you can do. You shouldn’t have „fallen on your mouth“ either. How do you say “the woman is herself” 🙂! As soon as you have created a clear position for yourself, it’s child’s play and the cooperation works flawlessly and you are not branded as a “typical woman” but as an equal work colleague.