Celebrating the International Day of Women in Engineering

Engineering has long been considered a male-dominated field, with women historically underrepresented in engineering departments. However, in recent years, the importance of gender diversity in engineering has gained recognition and even celebrated.

Although I am coming from a sister field- Product department – at Glovo, I also have the honour and privilege of leading one of our Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) for gender equality and representation, GloW. As such, I’d like to share some thoughts on the practical approaches to the importance of gender diversity in engineering to honour the International Day of Women in Engineering. 

Fostering Diversity 

It is becoming increasingly recognised that creating inclusive environments that foster diverse perspectives not only promotes fairness but also drives innovation and enhances problem-solving abilities by bringing together unique perspectives, experiences, and ideas. 

By increasing the number of women in engineering, departments gain access to a broader range of insights, leading to improved problem-solving and innovative solutions. Further, having a gender-diverse engineering workforce ensures that the needs and perspectives of all end-users are considered during product development, leading to more inclusive and effective outcomes for our customers, couriers and partners, who come from diverse backgrounds and experiences themselves. 

It also works for any company’s retention game – embracing gender diversity helps attract and retain top talent from a larger pool of qualified candidates. By actively engaging women in engineering, organisations can tap into a significant segment of the workforce, strengthening their ability to recruit the best talent. What is more, a workplace that values gender diversity cultivates an inclusive and supportive environment. This, in turn, boosts employee morale, job satisfaction, and overall productivity. 

The GloW Difference 

Within Glovo and as leader of GloW, I see it as an imperative to offer networking opportunities, mentorship programs, and career development resources, as well as raising awareness to the leadership and the wider team about the unique challenges while encouraging open discussions in order to set up our female colleagues for success no matter their role, but especially in breaking the glass ceiling in traditionally male-dominated roles. 

So as we see, having gender-diverse engineering teams is not just the right thing to do but also is a smart business, product, and culture decision. At Glovo we aim to be ahead of the game – indeed, our CTO, Narek Verdian, is the executive sponsor of GloW. 

Observing it from the perspective of leading an ERG as well as being part of the wider Tech teams, I am glad to see how cherished and pronounced the importance of diversity is for the Engineering leadership – so that more junior colleagues, looking at that team can be inspired to see themselves as a potential addition to the leadership table, no matter what their gender or background is. 

We still have a long way to go, but I am positive that with the team we have at Glovo we can promote fairness, equity and equality for better representation and better results that benefit everyone – we are on a good way to do so. To have a sneak peak, I invite you to have a look at a peek into the day of Alena Traukina, an Engineering Manager based in Glovo Poland.