Sphere
#38
2015
21
<<
“Women are more attentive to details and
are more thoughtful,” she says. Engineering
requires its practitioners to be earnest,
detail-oriented and responsible. She
believes women fit the bill, giving them an
advantage in engineering work.
Training is another crucial factor in an
engineer’s career advancement. Ms
Du says she owes her success to the
company’s policy which offers the same
training opportunity to men and women
alike. Early on in her career, when training
resources were scarce, Ms Du was
chosen three times to be trained at the
headquarters of both Boeing and Airbus.
Now, as the company expands its in-house
training programme, more women workers
in GAMECO will benefit from it.
What happens at work is, of course,
important to how a career progresses.
However, anyone with even a little life
experience knows that one’s personal life
can throw the best-laid plans off track.
Duty: Family versus work
Ms Du believes the most challenging part
of being a female engineer is to strike a
balance between work and family. Two
years ago, her mother was hospitalised
because of cancer and she had to take days
off to provide care. There was no one to
replace her at such short notice on a new
project she had only just begun.
Ms Du managed to communicate with
her team from the hospital through emails
and phone calls. “Everyone talks about
work-family balance but, inevitably,
we have to make sacrifices.” When
she faces a dilemma, she opts for the
choice with the most urgent demands,
meaning that sometimes work will come
before family. But there are times when
family cannot be denied. Fortunately,
her superiors and colleagues rose to the
occasion, working closely with her and
accommodating the difficult situation she
found herself in.
Strong brew
Across the Group, women are taking top
positions and proving their value in sectors
traditionally dominated by men. They
haven’t done so by ignoring reality, but by
tackling it head-on. Their strength, even
when in hot water, has shown their worth.
The Group has a commitment to ensuring
that gender should never be a barrier to
success. As staff across all levels support
their colleagues, irrespective of gender, the
Group will continue to be a place where
determination, teamwork and commitment
are rewarded.
“Women are more attentive
to details and are more
thoughtful.”
Mayy Du,
Manager, Software Development
and Management Section, GAMECO
Mayy Du shows her colleagues how it’s done in modern aviation.
