Tech Talks and Challenges in the Tech Field: Condescension, Career Choices, and Female Leadership
Despite the talent and preparation of women in technology, inequalities in access and career development persist. According to UNESCO, only 35% of STEM students are women, and within the industry, the gender pay gap and the lack of female role models remain structural challenges. At Gradiant, we created Tech Talks with a Gender Perspective to foster a space for reflection and share experiences that inspire future generations. With the technical work of the Peaky Branders agency, the second Tech Talks session delved into the challenges women face in the tech sector.
Technology with a Clear Social Impact
The second episode explores the obstacles women encounter in technology. Condescension and paternalism are recurring issues, as reflected in anecdotes about differential treatment in meetings. Several participants highlight how many young girls hesitate to pursue engineering due to fear of failure, and the discussion reveals that women often choose careers with a clear social impact. However, the technology developed by our teams at Gradiant achieves that very goal. For example, in the Trumpet project, a European initiative where we develop methods to enhance privacy in collaborative learning and provide a highly scalable collaborative AI service platform for researchers. This project consortium is led by Gradiant, specifically by one of our female colleagues.
Breaking the Glass Ceiling
A key discussion point is gender segregation in some academic competitions, which reinforces stereotypes from an early age. Additionally, the conversation touches on how women who break through the glass ceiling sometimes feel pressured to adopt more traditionally masculine traits to fit into leadership roles. Don’t miss the powerful message with which one of our colleagues concludes this session.
This episode features:
- Elena Fernández, Head of Innovation Data in the Intelligent Systems area
- Antía Fernández, Director of Innovation for Strategic Markets
- Elena Rey, Senior Research Engineer in the Advanced Communications area
- Sara Campos, Head of Operational Management
- Carmen Rodríguez from the Project Office
- Rebeca Díaz Redondo, Director of the School of Telecommunication Engineering at the University of Vigo
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The European project TRUMPET and the PLATGDIA project fund this initiative to highlight the role of women in technology.
TRUMPET has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation program under grant agreement No. 101070038.
PLATGDIA is funded by CDTI within the Transmisiones 2023 Program and is supported by the European Commission through Next Generation Funds and the Recovery, Transformation, and Resilience Plan.
