On her terms

I started out my career with thyssenkrupp six years ago. Since then, I have transformed from a college student to a professional.

It is the organization’s resilience and drive to embrace the future that fascinates me most. It has continuously reinvented itself to meet the needs of the changing times. Even today with the focus on sustainability and climate protection, I am proud of the green technologies and initiatives the organization has taken towards building a better planet.

As an electrical engineer, I am involved with designing electrical power distribution systems for our chemical plants. I handle power system studies, protection, procurement and layout engineering among others. I’m happy with the kind of diverse work I get to do every day. But there is still so much more to learn. As a design engineer, balancing customer satisfaction and competitiveness can be tricky. But it’s exciting to work around this together with the team.

Outside of work, I am an avid reader. I also dabble with writing poems in my spare time. On weekends, I like to go cycling or running or playing badminton. Work-life balance means a lot to me. It’s so important to have that down-time to relax. For instance, I have a pact with my sister to travel to a new place every year. But a healthy balance is still a work-in-progress for me. I try my best by setting realistic boundaries and keeping an open communication. After all, I need to be able to honor my journey as an individual.

I went to an all-girls school; feminism and gender equality were a natural part of my upbringing. We were taught at a very young age the importance of being financially and emotionally independent.

Despite initiatives on gender equality, I think the cultural conditioning on what ‘women’ can and cannot do may be an invisible barrier. The fact that we are expected to ‘challenge’ gender norms underlines that we still have a long way to go until we consider it a natural way of life. I understand my identity is independent of anybody or anything else. At the same time, I have also come to accept that reaching out for help when required is not a sign of weakness. One lesson I still carry with me from school is that supporting other women plays an undeniable role in becoming a strong woman myself.

I firmly believe that the future belongs to gender neutrality. With movements like Pride, the borders of ‘gender’ are slowly fading away. Breaking the bias should eventually go on to encompass intersectional equality. We rise by lifting each other.