11F: Olvido Arenas, from curious 'science' girl to engineer and manager

World Day of Women and Girls in Science, celebrated every February 11, seeks to focus on the importance of women accessing fields of study and work traditionally associated with men. This being a changing reality and given that the inertia of the times and social advances have meant that more and more women are dedicated to “science” careers, what is now called STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, that is, science, technology, engineering and mathematics), we have turned to a colleague, an engineer, who has told us her personal experience, her testimony of how she lived her vocation, her first years of training, her access to the world of work and their professional development, showing that some things have changed and others still need to change. Olvido Arenas is the director of the Production, Systems and Communications Department and has offered us her testimony on this day.

This year 2025, on the occasion of the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, they asked me if I would share my experience as a female Industrial Engineer and my reflections on the current situation, the references and all those topics that, on days like this, are discussed. And I started to think, what would I say? Would it be interesting? How could I tell it?

I was a normal girl from a normal girls' school in Madrid. I was a science person, I got good grades, I was curious, I had imagination and I liked to know how things worked, I have always been very practical. I finished the COU and the Selectivity with a good grade, but I had no vocation nor did I have any family or acquaintances to imitate, in fact, in my house they were all “literary”. But the truth is that, even without having anything clear, I didn't see myself doing anything that wasn't technical, even if I didn't know what. I liked architecture, but it did not convince me as a profession for me and, looking for other options, I discovered the School of Industrial Engineers of the Polytechnic, which was in Castellana, in a spectacular building, which also had its advantages.

I never saw myself doing anything that wasn't technical, even if I didn't know what

Since he gave me the note to enter, I went in convinced that it was my best option. Then the old 6-year plan was in force, the first three years were common for everyone and the last three were specialized, with many different branches. I loved that, it would give me time to see what I liked the most. And so I changed my normal school of normal girls and total stability, for a crowded and somewhat chaotic school, almost full of boys, very different grades from the usual ones... a radical change.

But, things being what they are, my family always supported me, especially at the beginning, in that first year when it was so difficult and the results, in general, were not good. They saw me determined and putting in a lot of hours of study and they trusted that in the end everything would be fine. At the end of the day, from studying a lot to end up getting a zero, you also learn. Fortunately, not everything was like that.

I remember that when I started, there were mostly boys in class, there were approximately 15% girls, but no one questioned then that it had to be any other way and I never experienced it as an advantage or disadvantage with respect to teachers or opportunities throughout the degree, I simply felt “one more” there, that is, very good.

And to give you the complete context, I made very good friends there and I remember that stage with great affection. I studied a lot but I also had a lot of fun. I arrived in time to see things that were immediately, rightly, cancelled, like the splendid parties that the third years had on weekend nights, to get money for their trip across the equator within the school itself, with music, lights and drinks in the lobby, in the bar... now it would be unimaginable.

Outside of my university environment, I frequently encountered questions like, when do you get a boyfriend? Or why study something so complicated?

Thus, my life passed between fun, studying and some sports. And it was only outside of that environment where, with some frequency, I found myself with questions like “and when do you get a boyfriend?” or “and is it worth studying for so many years?” or “and why something so complicated?” Questions for which I automated answers that were much easier than those I had to give, for example, in Fluid Mechanics. I never gave importance to these questions, for me they made no sense in the life I was living, but possibly they were an indicator of the time.

I finished my degree specializing in installations and construction. My fellow boys had an easy time entering construction companies as construction interns, the girls much less so (another indicator of the time?). But it didn't matter because they immediately gave me a scholarship to go to work in Salamanca, at the ENUSA nuclear power plant fuel factory. I went headlong, you can imagine, building elements from uranium bars, what a curious activity, so precise, so controlled. I was assigned to the maintenance team (100% men), with the workshops and warehouses in the basement of the factory. It wasn't what I would have preferred, but I integrated with them wonderfully. In our basement the walls were heavily decorated with posters and calendars, surely there is no need for me to confirm the main theme.

Two months later, the boss confessed to me that he had won a bet with me when I arrived, because no one believed that he could put a girl down there (are we still counting indicators?). I took it for granted, because the experience was useful to me, but I asked him, in compensation, to find me a replacement and let me go up with the engineers to the technical services. Well, he accepted and since he was also a good guy, he set up a luxury barbecue in the field with all the team, substitute included, to celebrate the good vibes. I then stayed there for a few months learning everything and, if things haven't changed much, one of the stages of weighing the uranium bars prior to assembly bears my name.

Fast forward, in 1999 I joined the newly merged Fraternidad-Muprespa, for the Iberia SPP. Impressive, in the industrial zone of Barajas, La Muñoza, among airplanes, engines, workshops, hangars, aeronautical engineers, mechanics and a few posters and calendars. Again 90% men. Feeling of different treatment: 0. General rating: 10. I wish I could condense in a few words how much I learned, the diversity of jobs, spaces, tasks that are done there and how much can be contributed.

When I joined Fraternidad-Muprespa, again 90% men in my department. Feeling of different treatment: 0. General rating: 10

But it had been going on for 10 years and, although everything was going well, I asked my boss for a change, since he had been doing the same thing for some time. I took charge of the maintenance of the Central Hospital, the previous engineer had left and they wanted to continue with another. Team in my charge? The maintenance guys, you know, 100% guys. In short, I was happy. The hospital was functioning, with its ailments. I prepared all the technical reports that justified the change of hospital, we emptied it, we moved the activity without incident, we closed it... And then I moved on to Works (100% chic..., well, Concha was there, it's something). And there I was happy participating in the construction of the new HFMH hospital, so beautiful, so modern, so efficient, what a pride to see it at the inauguration... And then I moved to Systems, from where I speak to you today, and I cannot summarize how grateful I am for this change, how stimulating it is for me, the amount of things I have learned and those I still have to learn, what more can I ask for?

With these points, do I have to answer whether I would advise a girl to enter engineering? How could I not encourage someone to get into a world so interesting, so open, so changing, where there is so much to learn and so much to do in such different activities? I can only be grateful to my career for having taught me to confidently face all the opportunities that have arisen in such diverse fields and also to my company, Fraternidad-Muprespa, for the trust it has placed in me by offering me all this evolution.

My work experience in different 'men's' worlds has been exceptional. Bets, jokes and posters included

You want to know if I have felt treated differently because I am a woman, but I did not study thinking that I was different than them and I do not think about differences. My work experience in different “men's” worlds has been exceptional (bets, jokes and posters included), it is not up to me to see differences.

Why aren't there more girls in STEM careers? I wish there were more in engineering, where I see that there are still few, because they are missing out, but there are many in other careers where they are the majority. Are girls still conditioned by gender stereotypes and do not sign up? I am not convinced because I see them with few doubts. Will many abandon the idea due to social imposition? It doesn't convince me either, for the majority. Is it because of the famous lack of references? Personally, I believe that you do not need references to be clear that you will do well entering a technical career because that is your option. On the other hand, references like Ada Lovelace and Marie Curie, who were born more than 100 years before me, are always mentioned, and I don't think we should expect today's girls to be inspired by that.

We have women in very important positions in leading companies. Let's make them more visible

But if we really believe that role models are the solution, I believe that we can find them, we have women in very important positions in leading companies, let's make them more visible. At our level, we, those of us who are active and still feel the excitement, can be references in our circles, transmit what we do, what we contribute. And within companies, I believe that what is important is the commitment to locating talent and giving it visibility, support and promotion, so that, little by little and with transparency, the percentage at management levels can be increased.

Dedicated to my husband and my three children (100% boys), shadow co-stars of this adventure.

And also to all the colleagues of Frater, active and retired, who have participated in this story.

Without you nothing would have been the same.