To honor International Women's Day, we’re sharing the stories of the Techint Engineering & Construction's employees who have charted their course of professional development in activities previously considered predominantly “male”.

March 8 is when the world commemorates International Women's Day, a reminder of the daily struggle of millions of women as they seek to actively participate in different areas of society with as much right as men to access all-around professional development.

For decades, women have been stereotyped as “the weaker sex” due to supposed physical and even intellectual fragility, limiting their incursion into more male-dominated trades or professions, such as engineering and construction.

However, psychology professor at the University of Wisconsin and international specialist on the topic of Women and Gender, Janet Hyde, pointed out that, “science disproves gender stereotypes of how men and women should be, act and behave.”

Her argument was based on an investigation published by researcher Alison Macintosh, who carried out a comparative analysis between the bones of prehistoric women and current female athletes, revealing that both have similar strength in their leg bones.

In fact, prehistoric women were also between 11 and 16% stronger in their arms, due to tasks such as tilling the soil, harvesting crops by hand or grinding grain for hours on end. For Macintosh, this shows that, in prehistory, women were nothing like their gender stereotypes, as they developed greater physical strength and endurance, something that modern women can also develop.

Ilona C. Aczel, a researcher at the University of Buenos Aires, explains in her article “The weakness of women” that this belief stems from prejudices prevalent in different cultures. She recalls that, from the mid-19^th century until the Second World War, women continuously demonstrated their ability to take on important roles in society, because many men were away fighting for their country.

Women without prejudice

Throughout the history of Techint E&C, dozens of employees have shown that engineering and construction is also women’s business. Here we share some stories that have set examples to be followed.

María Inocenta Pérez Córdova

For two years, this 35-year-old woman, a single mother with four children, tackled the challenge of working on the construction of the Dos Bocas Refinery, in her native state of Tabasco in southern Mexico. She works as a mechanical assistant at the Cogeneration Plant.

As the only woman involved in the maintenance of the steam and gas turbines, she says that, “I’ve found my passion in carrying out mechanical tasks and if Techint E&C allows me to continue, I’d love to take part in other projects. Now I have the confidence to say: 'I can and I will achieve it,'” she states proudly.

Jana Cleide Pereira

In 2016, Jana decided to change her life and give up her job as a store sales assistant to join the Techint team in Paraná, Brazil. She started as an assistant at the P-76 project and today is working as an industrial painter for the LTA-Ternium project in Rio de Janeiro.

Her dream is to become an inspector, which is why she is emphatic that, “everything I learn in the area that can contribute to my life in general is what I put into practice to achieve my goal… I think that the fact that there are more and more women in these projects shows that we are more than capable."

Jaqueline Ferreira Martins

At 36 years old, and with an 18-year-old daughter, Jaqueline works as an assembly mechanic for the LTA-Ternium project, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. She was born in Pará, North of Brazil, and already worked in several work sites.

Looking forward, her goal is to complete a mechanics course and grow more every day at Techint E&C, as she's passionate about the mechanical side of things. She adds: “The labor market has to open up more opportunities for us; there’s a lot of prejudice because people think women don’t have what it takes to be in this industry, but in reality we have every right to perform whatever tasks we want.”

Daiana Mangia Nobre

With the idea of finding more growth opportunities, Daiana went from store manager to industrial painter for Ternium’s LTA project in Brazil. Here, she carries out activities such as treating metal parts, as well as compiling schedules and checklists, among other administrative functions.

“I’m keen to continue in the area of planning, as I really like looking after employees. This is why I want to work in management,” she says, adding that, “throughout my career, I’ve always been highly respected and my team believes in me.”

Mariana Evangelina Salazar

Mariana started out in the company as a pointer in the logistics, roads, access and ditch-digging phase of the President Néstor Kirchner Gas Pipeline project in Argentina.

She is currently a hydraulic test supervisor for the hydrostatic tests taking place at the Northern Gas Pipeline (Gasoducto Norte) reversal project in Córdoba, Argentina. “I’m one of the few women who will be actively working on the line… I’m really grateful for all the support the company has given me to develop and grow professionally.”

Jessica del Pilar Arenas Arredondo

In 2019, Jessica gave up a full-time job painting swimming pools to become a van driver at the Los Bronces project in Chile. She worked there for more than a year and was later posted to the C20+ project.

As well as driving vans, she now has a truck operator's license. In the short term, one of her goals is to continue training and learn to operate other machinery so that she can continue growing. “If I’m offered the opportunity, I’ll certainly take it. For me, Techint means a stable job and a company that provides great opportunities.”

This year, the United Nations is commemorating International Women's Day with the slogan “Invest in women: Accelerate progress.” It’s seeking to encourage public and private sector financing for initiatives aimed at fostering gender equality and women’s well-being in order to build more prosperous and sustainable economies.

Sources:

https://mujeresconciencia.com/2019/11/14/la-supuesta-fragilidad-de-la-fuerza-fisica-femenina/

https://lac.unwomen.org/es/stories/noticia/2024/01/dia-internacional-de-la-mujer-2024

http://www.scielo.org.ar/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1853-001X2012000100004