The Alumni Talks – International Women’s Day Special Edition took place on 8th March at Alameda Campus. The alumnae and current students shared some experiences before the event started. “I entered the job market about two and a half years ago thanks to Pitch Bootcamp“, said Madalena Perloiro, Técnico alumna (Industrial Engineering and Management) and Logistics Efficiency and Supply Chain Manager at Jerónimo Martins, talking with some of the participants.
At the beginning of the session, the President of Técnico, professor Rogério Colaço, said “there is a common trait in female engineers, which is courage and character strength”, and then he stressed the upward trend of women at Técnico that has been observed for some years.
The co-coordinator of the Gender Balance Group at Técnico, professor Beatriz Silva, pointed out “this event is very interesting and an excellent way to share ideas” and “gender is socially constructed”.
Engineer Susana Ferreira, Técnico alumna (Computer Science and Engineering) and Transformation Senior Director at Santander Bank, closed the opening session and highlighted “the search for talent is increasingly differentiated nowadays” and “teams must be multidisciplinary and diverse, both in terms of gender and skills”.
The conversations at the various tables focused on the academic path and career aspirations. The challenges of getting back into studying again, namely to pursue a PhD, after several years working, was also a topic of conversation. Engineer Conceição Magalhães, Técnico alumna (Civil Engineering) and Deputy Director at Brisa, said “Técnico helps us build many skills, and resilience is one of them”.
The recruitment process was another topic discussed. Raquel Jimenez, Técnico alumna (Chemical Engineering) and Capabilities and Insights Analyst at McKinsey, spoke about the company and shared “the most useful thing I learnt at Técnico was how to think and solve problems”.
The Engineering Physics Master’s student, Daniela Cardoso, stressed “this type of event allows us to contact with former students, which, otherwise would have been very difficult” and “the benefits of participating in this type of event is that we learn from different professional experiences and we get an overview”.
João Saavedra, Biological Engineering master’s student, shares Daniela’s opinion. “It is important to talk with people who are already working and have different experiences and it is also an opportunity to clarify doubts”. The Biological Engineering student also stressed, “these initiatives that involve only women are important to understand that gender is not a barrier to career success”.
The Técnico alumnae Ana Dias (Engineering Physics) and Chief Financial Officer at Cofina, and Sara Guerreiro de Sousa (Applied Mathematics and Computation) Senior Manager at Feedzai, also participated in this edition.
