FINA FERRER

INTRODUCTION OF THE QUESTIONS
Hi! We are girls from Wisibilízalas, a project created by Pompeu Fabra University. We are Marta, Carla, Paula and I, Júlia and we came to interview you today to tell us your career in this area (STEM professions).
Very well!

To begin with, what is your job and what is it?
My work?
Yes
Well, I work on an application, which is then used by a lot of people, like general government officials. My job is broadly representative of the generality asking us who they want the application to have and what I do with other people is first picking it up and then there are other colleagues who do it. Finally, others check that they have done well and present it to the customer, so that they can see if we have done the right thing or not and then give information to the people who will use.

PRIMARIAN STUDIES
We went to primary school, what was your school career? (where did you study, what courses did you ...)
When I was studying there was no such thing as primary, secondary and then high school. There was EGB, which was from first to eighth, so far second from ESO and then I did the EGB, to a public school in Ibiza because I lived there. Then I did what it would be, high school, formerly COU, to another public high school. Second from BUB, your third year ESO where
technology was chosen, plus science or letters, and I chose science, because I really liked physics and biology. My intention was to study physics, but in the end, I chose to do computer science, which was what I thought I could do different jobs.

Do you think teachers treated children differently in these areas like science, technology, ... subjects?
Personally have never had a problem, if you like and give interest you can do it anyway, and the teachers recognized it.

START IN THIS AREA
At the beginning of this field, did you know from a young age that you wanted to study this?
No, not me. I chose the race when there was no internet, then the races were given on a paper list, there were two lines that told you that the race was going and, of course, since there were no social networks, it was much harder to choose and then, I had no idea that I wanted to study.

Did you choose it freely or were you forced?
I chose it freely, which was very clear that I wanted to pursue a degree in science or engineering, because I did not like writing at all and I did not do health care at all, which the whole branch of engineering did. I clearly knew what I wanted to do. Then exactly computer engineering or industrial engineering if it was my parents who advised me.

How did you find out that you liked this job or this field?
Well, you really like a job, you discover it well when you work because you imagine it before, but you are not very clear, that if I saw what I was studying, it could be applied to many branches of life. With computer science you can work in banking, tourism, supermarkets, that is, any pharmacy, yet you have options to work for this job. Then I think that this is a sector
that you can go from one job to another, something that in some jobs you can’t do.

HIGHER EDUCATION
You have already explained to us that you did an engineering, but you could specify what career you have done, what engineering did you do?
Well, when I studied there was no, how now is the race and then the master is not?

YES
Well, that didn't exist, there was technical engineering, which was three years old, and later complete then expanding the subjects and I did the superior engineering. Or you could decide to did the superior engineering directly (five years). As I was sure of what I want to study, I chose that technical engineering of three years 8but I did I four) and later I did the superior engineering.

What university did you go to and why did you choose it?
I went to the Polytechnic University of Catalonia. I was from outside Barcelona, ​​so I had to decide where to go to live first and I was between Madrid or Barcelona, ​​and finally I chose Barcelona because when I was little I had traveled more here and not Madrid. And at that time there was only computing in two faculties, not like now that it is in many more places. They did it at the UPC or at the UAB, and mainly the decision was that the UPC was part of its popularity, that it knew it more by technical careers, it was because it was located within Barcelona, ​​so it was closer.

Did you have a hard time getting your career?
Much, much better not, but you had to study hard and work hard. You used to do many hours after the exercise classes, and especially practices. The teachers put you some exercises, but they were a very small part compared to the practices. It was not easy; the whole race had its difficulties. There were many people who did not pass, that is, you had to pass a minimum of subjects in order to continue and there were many people who did not succeed.

When you chose this career, someone from your environment will say that you better do something else to be a woman?
Never.

EQUALITY
In the university, there was equality, that is, the professors treated you differently?
Look, where there was no equality is in the number of students! There were about 10% or 15% of girls. So, there were sixty classes that I was alone, that's not a problem either because in the end, you have fellow boys and that's it. The teachers, maybe someone treated you differently, but I still think that I don't know if you are a boy or a girl, because if you are interested in that subject, you do all the work, you ask the questions you need and you put a minimum of interest they recognized it. Now if you don't put anything on yourself, that is, you don't ask questions or talk, maybe you should rethink what you're studying. But I say that if you push forward and get involved there should be no objection.

Were there many men or women who couldn't get the race?
I wouldn't know how to say how much percent. There would also be another situation that is that since there is a lot of work in computer science, many people found work before finishing their degree, even if they were not yet a professional. And then, doing everything that the race demands of you then, made many people leave it.

JOBS
Have you already told us that you work, but have you worked on any other before?
I started working when I was still studying at the university. In the informatic faculty, there was a department that practices with companies. Then, this department is responsible for looking for jobs and distributes them among students, according to their knowledge. When I finished my degree, I went back to Ibiza for three years where I worked in a company that was
dedicated to the tourism sector, which is the most important sector. But in the end, I decided to return to Barcelona because it was a very small company, and I saw that there weren’t many options. Then, I returned to Barcelona, ​​I started the sector that I am now, which is that of taxes and I started working in generality for six years and later I went to Indra.

Did you have trouble getting to where you are now?
Very with the difficulty of finding work, the truth is that no. I found this work thanks to colleagues from this university because they worked and, in this aspect, was easy, but later, as in all the works, it demands effort and the day-to-day involvement, makes more complicated days and others not so much. For example, for me the most responsibility is deliver the functionalities that they ask us on the time we agreed and keep the applications running with the minimum of incidences, there will be days that we will have made something wrong, and we will have to work as a team to solve it as soon as possible.

WORK PROBLEMS
Have you had problems until you get to where you are now?

No, I haven't had. You always find people who will be better, people who help or people who do not help, but in the end, I have not had difficulties.

Can you tell us an experience or anecdote that you have lived in your work? That by being a woman you have been treated differently.
I think that because I was a woman, I didn't have more, I think I had more problems because I was young. Many people who had a relationship they were more than fifty years old and I instead was thirty, then, the combination of the two things, maybe that, at first, when you start talking to a person you just to know, it costs more to listen to you and to be taken into
account But, what is clear is that, after the first moment, it’s important what you say, as you say. Big problems, probably in some moments you think that you won’t do anything there, because everyone has more experience than you, but if you strive and you get involve, you will see that you’ll achieve do it well.

Any recommendations for girls who want to work on this?
Any recommendation, well ... I think it could be applied to all careers as medicine, computer science. The first, would be that they were clear about what career they want to do but that, although you have studied a career later there are a lot of related options. Secondly, study hard and prepare, then also to be involved with your job, you have to have solid knowledge. Also it’s very important the mates that you find because somehow or another you’ll find them during your professional life, they recommend you or you’ll search if you need a person with knowledges.

Ever for being a woman, have you found that your partners charged more than you?
The salary is never equal to all people who stay on a company, even if the task is similar depends on different factors that in part are if you get involved in the job, the years that you were at a same place, if you risked changing of company for a better offer… I don’t know either because anyone says their salaries at the coffee time, but I think that in my sector, for being a woman, it isn’t different.

After all these years of work would you stay the same or change the job?
No, I would continue the same, I really like my job.

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PERSONAL OPINION
Now we will ask you more your personal opinion for everything that is happening with women. Well, do you think the society in which we live is fair? Do you respect your work?
I think there are a lot of sectors that for being a woman you charge less or it’s more difficult to have the same salary or promotions. Another topic is that a lot of women decide to do professions that in general have low salaries: nurses, childhood education, … Technology, as a sector that doesn’t have many years of history and this problem occurs less. I
mean, to similar tasks, the salary is similar. But in return as there are many more men studying these careers (85%) it makes them there more men in important locations and companies directed by men, and this makes the higher salaries.

What is your opinion about feminism?
I think it is still very much needed, especially because girls tend to do less of our abilities, or it is harder for us to decide on the fact that we will be wrong. We lack confidence in ourselves, of not being afraid of what will happen if we do not take risks.

Do you think women do not want to do these jobs because they have always related to men?
If I suppose it is the only explanation I find. But the truth is that it is a shame, because this sector has a lot of demand for work and that there are correct salaries compared to others, that is, you can study by pharmacy and end up working on this but that people will not buy much, and instead, computing will always be the same.

Do you think this will change over the years?
I hope so, I have two young daughters and firstly I want them to study wherever they want, but I wish they had in mind this sector because it has a lot of output and there are many companies.

Do you think that, contrary to these works, there are places where there are few men?
Yeah right. For example, teaching, law, medicine, nursing, of 100 people there must be 2 boys. I find it hard to believe that it is because everyone likes this.

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FINAL
Well, thank you very much for letting us do this interview.