This week, Women in Solar Europe (WiSEu) gives voice to María Santa María, head of projects at BayWa re Iberia. She says diversity and inclusion deserve to be central to a company’s hiring practices and board representation. She also argues that organizations and industry stakeholders have much to gain by explicitly and openly prioritizing equity and inclusion to create a more inclusive environment for women and other underrepresented groups.
In many ways, the solar and energy storage industry tends to be more open to women than some traditional industries. And curiously, the green hydrogen sector is notorious for high female representation, even at management level.
In my opinion, this is partly due to its relatively young and innovative character. Some key aspects of the renewable energy industry still rely on research and development, environmentalism and business, sectors that tend to have less gender bias than technology. Furthermore, the sector’s focus on sustainability and its approach to global energy well-being often attracts individuals who are passionate about making a positive impact, regardless of their gender.
However, there are still barriers and challenges that women may face in this sector, including low representation in leadership roles. I believe that diversity enriches and thus organizations and industry stakeholders have much to gain by explicitly and openly prioritizing equality and inclusion to create a more inclusive environment for women and other underrepresented groups.
Personally, and especially early in my career, I worked in extremely biased teams, both in terms of gender and age. This environment was a bit disturbing to me. However, it is from those early experiences that I drew the most useful emotional tools for determining my future. First and foremost, I learned that confidence comes from knowledge, but also from the importance of being kind to yourself, setting achievable goals in every situation, owning the little things you do right, and moving forward with steady but small steps . With these principles under my belt, I was able to quell fears that an underrepresented group would be out of place.
I believe that as a society we are aware of these facts and act accordingly. As a mother, I am aware of outreach and educational STEM initiatives that strive to bring female role models in male-dominated tech fields to our youth as early as high school. This is an excellent way to excite the next generation and support their motivation when they don’t have profiles to identify with.
But we have to reach further than that. Diversity and inclusion play a central role in a company’s hiring practices and board representation. It’s not just about enabling work-life balance, it’s about promoting it and setting an example at all levels and challenging stereotypes.
So for anyone currently entering the industry or even just starting their studies, I would advise them to take the opportunity to live, learn and grow. Be open-minded and a free-thinker, but better yet: be a new doer. Own your differences, because that is the kind of individualism that enriches and grows. The world would turn faster and in a better direction if we didn’t just jump into the driver’s seat, but steered it toward a greener and more just future with passionate, new, unbiased ideas.
Throughout her nearly 20-year career, María has been on a journey from Earth Climate Research to product design and manufacturing of green hydrogen electrolyzers and lately to business and project development for energy storage solutions, with an emphasis on battery systems. María is currently head of projects at BayWa re Iberia. She is a passionate advocate for a sustainable, efficient and renewable future. She actively promotes the energy transition on social media and uses her knowledge of technology, industrial needs and market realities. For María, the energy transition represents an opportunity for national economic development, growth and balance – good for the planet and good for each of us.
Interested in participating in Women in Solar Europe with María Santa Maria and other female leaders and industry experts? Find out more: www.wiseu.network
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