There are a lot of bias that prevent us from exploring the potential of our professional careers. Which bias might have impacted you the most in the way you led your career so far?
On imposter syndrome– A mix of talent and hard work has led me to achieve outstanding professional achievements in an age that society is not used to seeing. The lack of confidence that I deserved and deserved those positions prevents me from going even further, at times, I believe.
On being a woman - I feel there is a gender bias that I can’t ignore. The lack of role models in sustainability-related conferences and Academia kind of brings me to reflect on whether I will have my own space or not.
In which way do you think volunteering experiences have impacted your way of working and your career progression?
Volunteering has been a crucial part of my growth, no doubt about that. It allowed me to understand commitment and resilience without expecting anything as a payback. I can see why volunteers sometimes fail to appear – you are not being paid; you don’t have a legal obligation – but I can’t understand it. It just shows a lack of professionalism that will, in one way or the other, reflect later in life and ultimately prevent us from progressing in our careers. A volunteer that does not fail is a volunteer that will keep on pushing no matter what the tasks are ahead and plus, will go the extra mile. The extra mile is often what differentiates oneself from other peers at a career level. I developed that competence while volunteering – giving everything I have despite the payback.
Volunteering leads you to have a broader understanding of the world, the challenges of your neighborhood, the problems human beings can have, and you have no clue about it. These are the things that you cannot forget that exist, even when you are growing in your career. I became even more empathetic for those around me and that, without realizing it, leads to a more positive working environment. We never know what one is going through. Our world is an extension of those around us and working in such challenges taught me that. Ultimately, we quickly understand that career progress is often more about soft skills and the way we interact and lead others, than just the hard skills. You may be the best technical in world, if you can’t engage with others and be empathetic, I believe you will not go as further. Volunteering can give you that empathy and the moral obligation to be kind, to do more, to be an active citizen for a more inclusive and peaceful work-life and world life.
As a female manager, have you experienced obstacles which you think your male colleagues did not have to experience?
Unpaid work is a real challenge for women – not only the ‘doing’ part, but also the space it occupies in our heads. We are the ones thinking if any product is missing from our fridge, whether it is going to be sunny tomorrow so that we can wash our clothes today, what we will have for dinner and the time we need in advance to prepare it, what we will bring to next day’s lunch, the time to clean our home before the guests appear, and so on. I am not even including children in this equation. That’s a whole other level.
If we “are lucky” to find someone that supports us in our home duties than we will have more time to dedicate to work-life and attend meetings later in the day, which although should not happen we know that the higher the career level, the odds of that to happen increase. I want to reinforce the ‘lucky’ here because it is ashamed that we still feel that way. If we have gender equality at home, we are lucky. It should not be that way. It should be normal.
In which way would a more extensive female representation in leadership positions change your (Nova) corporate culture – if at all?
Several research studies have proved how much more productive and insightful a diverse team is when compared to others, so I believe that would apply for Nova SBE. Also, it would empower other younger women to work harder to achieve those places – seeing those as possible and achievable. Today, the truth is the opposite. We would also become more empathetic and aware of the need for work-life balance to avoid burnout and ultimately improve the retention of talent rate.
On the one hand, quotas are the quickest and most effective way to ensure equal numbers of men and women on boards. On the other hand, they discriminate against individual men and promote unhealthy competition among women. What’s your opinion on quotas for female representation in top-management positions?
So many things to say about this.
The first is that I would like to challenge the perspective that “it discriminates against individual men”. Why? What is the data behind that opinion? Companies do not have blind-recruitment processes so that idea that a man is better for the job than a woman can be very biased. Also, if you do not have a suitable woman among your applicants that surpass what you believe to be a good candidate for the job, then go to the market again. Try to find that woman. I am sure you will find her.
The second thing is in an ideal world, no one would need quotas. Yet, we see what the world has done so far on that matter. Let’s choose men because they will not get pregnant, and they do not have to leave earlier because they have home duties.
Quotas are means to an end. The end is a more representative society that includes women in it as leaders. Without legal compliance that enforces equality, we would never get that society.
The third thing I want to state is, quotas do not solve all the issues and at the end of day, it might end up being worse for women when they get the job. Men will look at her as underserved because they were only accepted because of the quotas. Women will not feel included IF the only step for equality happens in the recruitment process. A concrete, profound gender equality plan in each organization is crucial for those women’s talent to prosper.
What’s an empowering book or movie that you would recommend to every woman?
Invisible women, by Caroline Criado Perez.
What’s a fun fact about you?
I went to space camp turkey in 2008 for a week to train as an astronaut and learn everything about space.
Is there anything else you’d like to share? For example, a project in which you’ve been involved, opportunities available for young women, inspirational quote, any advice, tips, your perspective on something…
We need to bring men to the conversation. If we can’t reach them, we will never be able to explain our business case and we will hardly be welcomed by them. They need to see that we are capable, we are intelligent, we are strong, and we are everything we want to be, regardless of what society normalizes us to be.
We need to bring women to the conversation. Women that are “lucky” to have a cool partner that supports them. Women that are “lucky” to have parents that supported them and empowered them in school to be whatever they want. Women that are “lucky” to have achieved a leadership position. All these women must continue the fight for equality. Even if it means that we are positively discriminated for a couple of years to reverse all the inequalities our mothers and grandmothers suffered over the years. We owe this to them and to our and other women’s future kids.
This interview was conducted by Rita Mendes.
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