International Women's Engineering Day: How can we close the gender gap among female engineers?

Currently, Peru has one of the highest proportions of female engineers in Latin America; however, according to UNESCO, they only account for 28% of engineering graduates in the region. In this context, Katia Arista, Celepsa's head of safety, health, and environmental protection, shares some business practices that we can implement.

Greater representation of women in positions of leadership
According to Katia Arista, capabilities should not be measured by gender but by the skills of each professional. Teamwork, creativity, and adaptability are a few examples. She went on to say that businesses must identify problems and break old organizational practices that may limit women's participation and development within organizations.

"We must create objective opportunities for women engineers to advance and take on leadership roles. Today, a regional study conducted by the job portal Bumeran reveals that in 2021, only 0.79% of women will hold managerial positions such as CEO, CFO, and similar in the country."  She added.

Eliminate gender stereotypes through education
Gender stereotypes frequently affect female labor-force participation in Peru. In this regard, the work of businesses is critical in eliminating these prejudices through training and equality awareness.

"Even though this is changing, the engineering field is still dominated by men. Women are increasingly entering hard sectors such as mining and hydrocarbons, but their participation remains low. Companies must encourage reflection in this area, which is where they can play an important role. In this way, they can challenge preconceived notions about women's roles ". Celepsa's head of safety, health, and environmental protection stated.

Corporate wage equity policies
With the COVID-19 juncture, inequalities between men and women have grown in our country. Peru has a gender gap of more than 70%, according to the Global Gender Gap Index.

"There are an increasing number of internal policies within companies, particularly in the energy sector, that seek to ensure a balance between life and work, salary equity, and the elimination of all forms of harassment and bullying, among other things. However, if we are to close the gap faster, these must be monitored and further considered ". Arista concluded.