Dr. Evi BATRA, President of Greek Women’s Engineering Association (EDEM)

1. Where we are? In Europe Dr. Evi BATRA, President of Greek Women’s Engineering Association (EDEM)

2. This is Greece, the South Eastern corner of Europe. ATHENS is its capital. Dr. Evi BATRA, President of Greek Women’s Engineering Association (EDEM)

3. This is the Acropolis of Athens Dr. Evi BATRA, President of Greek Women’s Engineering Association (EDEM)

4. On the Acropolis, the Erechtheion temple is laid. Karyatides are its columns. Dr. Evi BATRA, President of Greek Women’s Engineering Association (EDEM)

5. One of these marble girls is our symbol, while our acronym in the Greek language means the “Paradise”. The Greek Women’s Engineering Association (EDEM) was established in 1995 by qualified women engineers. It operates in parallel and complementary to Technical Chamber of Greece (TCG) and the professional associations of Greek engineers, complementing and underpinning their actions to solve specific professional problems, that women engineers face. Dr. Evi BATRA, President of Greek Women’s Engineering Association (EDEM)

6. EDEMaims to: • Promote the principals and create provisions for equality between women and men in employment, education and society in general. • Research into problems concerning women engineers and subsequently seek solutions. • Co-laborate with other organizations (both abroad and in Greece), which are involved in similar issues. • Improve terms and conditions for women practicing engineering profession. • Encourage community awareness on employment opportunities for women and mainly of young women in the traditionally male dominated profession of engineering. Dr. Evi BATRA, President of Greek Women’s Engineering Association (EDEM)

7. Number of Greek Engineers per sex The engineering profession is male dominated in Greece. It was in 1920s when the first woman engineer, an architect, graduated from the National Technical University of Athens. In the last 30 years, the average percentage of women engineers that are enrolled in the TCG comprises of up to 20% of the total number of qualified engineers that were enrolled in the same period, with an increasing trend. Dr. Evi BATRA, President of Greek Women’s Engineering Association (EDEM)

8. Dr. Evi BATRA, President of Greek Women’s Engineering Association (EDEM)

9. The increased rate of women engineers is not uniform for all engineering specialties. Specialties that were traditionally considered in the past as male dominant (mechanical engineers, chemical engineers etc.) seem to attract the interest of women more than other fields which attracted women in the past (architects, civil engineers, etc.) Dr. Evi BATRA, President of Greek Women’s Engineering Association (EDEM)

10. Dr. Evi BATRA, President of Greek Women’s Engineering Association (EDEM)

11. Dr. Evi BATRA, President of Greek Women’s Engineering Association (EDEM)

12. Professional and Working status EDEM has conducted researches to identify the professional and working status of the Greek women Engineers. These researches show that: • The majority of women engineers are conscious in regards to their intentions for having a professional career. Having a family is significantly postponed, until certain professional prospects are ensured. • Work is full time, without always corresponding to the relevant payment. Dr. Evi BATRA, President of Greek Women’s Engineering Association (EDEM)

13. The percentage of women in “office” jobs is high, but this percentage is refuted by the promotion of women into managerial positions. • The percentage of unemployed women engineers is 2,6 times greater than the corresponding percentage of men engineers. The percentage of women engineers not employed as engineers is 1,3 times greater than that of their male colleagues. • A high percentage of female participants in training programs and in Information Technology seminars is noted. • Women exhibit a lower percentage in postgraduate studies in comparison with their male colleagues. Dr. Evi BATRA, President of Greek Women’s Engineering Association (EDEM)

14. The percentage of women engineers that exercise entrepreneurial activities is particularly low. • Concentration of women engineers is noted in the public sector. While women engineers comprise 20% of all engineers, those working in the public sector comprise 28% of all engineer employees. Public administration is considered as a privileged working place for women engineers as permanency, morning standard working hours and protection of maternity facilitate them with their obligations. • Society in the province is not mature enough to accept women engineers to the degree this happens in the civic centers, and, mainly in Athens and Thesaloniki. Dr. Evi BATRA, President of Greek Women’s Engineering Association (EDEM)

15. The employers’ opinion • From another research, conducted among engineers’ employers, to identify their opinions about the women engineers as employees, the conclusions were: • General training and professional specialization of women engineers is considered equally satisfactory with that of their male colleagues; 94% of companies evaluated that women engineers respond to their duties equally well or even better than their men colleagues. Dr. Evi BATRA, President of Greek Women’s Engineering Association (EDEM)

16. Women are significantly inferior in assuming managerial positions. The already low rate of managerial positions occupied by women is further reduced as one goes up hierarchy. • Enterprises are negatively influenced in recruiting women engineers by factors related to women’s difficulties in having flexible working hours, in assuming additional duties and in traveling. Dr. Evi BATRA, President of Greek Women’s Engineering Association (EDEM)

17. Our Future In the rising of the 21st century, women engineers constitute approximately 20% of the Greek engineers’ body. Their current number is close to 15.000 and is significantly increasing, even in typically male dominated fields, such as Chemical and Mine Engineering. The modern Greek Woman Engineer is young, knows English and another foreign language very well and is familiarized with the new technology (personal computers, internet, etc.). We are quite far yet from speaking about the feminine point of view of technology, since the creation of a diversified perspective of engineering science takes a much bigger number of women in all fields and many years of recognized work in order to be achieved. Dr. Evi BATRA, President of Greek Women’s Engineering Association (EDEM)

18. Still, if we continue growing at this present rate, our daughters will be able to take pride in the feminine perspective of energy and environment management, of building, of the exploitation of informatics and technology evolution in general, trends that already registered or crossed out today in an international level. The Greek Woman Engineer of today fights in the professional arena, having to face numerous unfavorable circumstances, the high unemployment rate being the toughest one. In this struggle the respect and appreciation from her colleagues and employers, her dignity and her scientific skills are her weapons. Dr. Evi BATRA, President of Greek Women’s Engineering Association (EDEM)

19. Closing, I would like to express my best thanks to the Conference Organizing Committee for inviting me as a speaker. I would like, also, to congratulate it for the perfect organization and the hospitality. I strongly believe that this gathering of women engineers all over the world must become an institution. All the engineering associations have their own international conferences. The women engineers ought to have theirs. Dr. Evi BATRA, President of Greek Women’s Engineering Association (EDEM)

20. EDEM wishes to support such an effort and it plans to host an International Women’s Engineering Conference in Athens 2004, some days before the Olympic Games. Dr. Evi BATRA, President of Greek Women’s Engineering Association (EDEM)