Triana Abad.
Hello, I'm Isabel Peña, I'm a statistician and a master in data science and Big Data. I am CEO of the German Institute for Cooperation and Innovation, and I am also founder and president of the platform “Women without barriers without borders”.
What is your job currently focused on?
Currently, my work as CEO at the Institute consists, fundamentally within my role, of defining the company's business strategy. Historically we are mainly experts in international trade, and currently I am more focused on implementing all Artificial Intelligence techniques to business strategies, both in the field of consulting and advice to companies, as well as using them in their companies to enhance, avoid risks, and improve benefits in the area of training, because a lot of training is currently needed in artificial intelligence.
How did the ”MSBSF” Platform come about?
The platform Mujeres sin barreras y sin fronteras arises as a result of my own concern when it comes to undertaking. I am an entrepreneur and a person who really likes challenges, and when I had the opportunity to take over the direction of the Institute, I saw that we had a very favorable ecosystem in which we could contribute a lot to society. I believe that companies have a great social responsibility, and for this reason we designed our corporate social responsibility to be, precisely, aimed at promoting support for women entrepreneurs, and also at promoting STEM skills. It consists of promoting this taste, especially among young women, among women, because there is currently a great gap in this sector, and it is something that must be promoted and corrected.
From your experience and as president of the MSBSF, what do you think are the difficulties when it comes to female entrepreneurship?
Well, if entrepreneurship in general already has its difficulties and is a challenge because it requires dedication, taking many risks, perseverance, etc., in the case of women, it obviously entails a new barrier and new limitations that It is important that society and the company help to minimize it, as far as possible.
These barriers that women encounter, mainly when it comes to starting a business, are known to everyone, apart from having greater difficulty accessing financing, for example, for your projects. It costs more for women to access this financing both in investment rounds and in bank financing of any type, not only in family reconciliation, which is still in force and has been demonstrated now, with the pandemic.
We have seen that as a result of the pandemic, teleworking has been established. Teleworking can have very good things, but the data is there, and it has shown that a new difference has been created between men and women. Those who were undertaking and investigating, the pandemic has paralyzed them and has once again relegated them to the background, while men, even during this time, have been able to do more things.
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What does the low presence of women in technology careers mean?
The low presence of women in technological careers causes two fundamental things that we should be careful with and try to correct, because, first of all, once again women are left out of the places where the world is designed, where the norms are established, and what the future will be. If women are 52% of the population, we should be represented to the same extent in any place where these decisions are made.
In the end they will not have that vision that we women have and that capacity to contribute. If women are not there, in these careers, once again logically a gap will be produced, they will once again be relegated to less important jobs in the ranks, and in turn with less remuneration, which causes that pay gap.
This gap will cause women to be relegated to the usual space and will cause them to be vulnerable, and achieve a discriminated group in that sense. The empowerment of women happens, precisely, by having your autonomy and by being able to generate your own money. That is what truly empowers you, and truly gives you freedom.
How do you reconcile being the mother of a large family, professional life and solidarity?
I think mainly learning from mistakes, because it's inevitable that we make mistakes. Important to learn from them and not drag them over time. And also learn to say no. I think that throughout my life one of the most important things I am learning, and a lot, is to say no.
No to certain things, no certain jobs, no to certain things that are not yours, to always leave that little piece of "your basket" free that is important for you to continue growing, for you to continue training and for you to continue doing what you really want to do, and that will be your springboard to success.
Another thing that we should also do more and more, is to get rid of the feeling of guilt, that feeling that we almost always have. It seems that women do have to work and travel, and being away for two months we think "what a bad mother", right? The bad mother is always 'out there'. One says to herself: am I not doing something like a mother? Will my children have any deficiencies?
I think that it is very important that we get rid of it because it is not true. It is not true and something easily verifiable, and as time goes by, people who already have children of a certain age, have the possibility of verifying it, since they themselves give you their "feedback" on how they have lived it and how they they are seeing, and on the contrary, they show you that not only are they not lacking in any aspect as a mother, but quite the opposite, that gives them a motivation, an incentive, a reference, an example, and they are grateful that the time that has been dedicated to them, has been a time of quality, and not of quantity.