Looking back on my career, there were two factors that had a significant influence on my professional development: My officer training and my technical studies. What is the likelihood that I would have undertaken one or the other of these studies as a woman? Probably close to zero.

In my time, only 10% of my fellow students in electronic and information technologies were female. And unfortunately, the picture is similar today – at least in Switzerland. Women in tech are still underrepresented in our society. In China and India, for example, women already make up around 50% in technical courses. This should also be our goal for Switzerland. And that is precisely why it is particularly and especially important for us as a technology company to use various measures to get girls excited about technology from a young age.

I grew up in a very open-minded family and mostly among women. After my father died young, my mother was the head of the family. She was a very strong and professional woman and a role model for me and my two sisters. She supported us in finding and developing our individual skills, interests and dreams – regardless of gender! That certainly shaped me and made me more aware.

Although we are constantly dealing with gender stereotypes at Siemens, it would be naïve to claim that they no longer exist in our society. Stereotypes are a cultural mindset problem and cannot simply be changed by regulations. They must be addressed on an ongoing basis. That’s what I’m personally committed to, and that’s what we do at Siemens.

At Siemens, we want the same rights for everybody: equal pay, flexible working and equal career opportunities. I attach great importance to diversity and integration. For me, this is part of our corporate culture. Of course, this also includes actively recruiting and promoting talent. And change starts here: I don’t want to miss opportunities simply because we hired “the exact replacement” instead of “the best fit”.