"Women, come forward - together we can achieve great things!". This is what Elisabeth Mertl, expert at Austrian Standards in the Medical Technology Committee, says in her video statement on why she is involved in standardization.
The perspective of women in standardization holds a lot of potential for the future, both in terms of topics and in terms of the number of participants. CEN and CENELEC’s member organisations are aware of this and are therefore developing Gender Action Plans to create more awareness and improve the framework conditions.
Campaign in German-speaking countries for Women's Day
On the occasion of International Women's Day, Austrian Standards joined DIN, SNV and DKE to hold a communication campaign to celebrate women active in standardization. The campaign consisted of video interviews with women experts from committees, articles, a special landing page, posts on social media and dedicated article on the organizations’ newsletters.
Below you can find the link to the campaigns on the different websites of the four participating organizations:
Vital not only in road traffic
A press release by Austrian Standards, in which an expert from the Institute for Vehicle Safety at the Graz University of Technology shared her views, was picked up by several media. The very striking example of Crashtest Dummies shows how important it is for health and safety to consider the needs of both genders in the design and implementation of various products and services. There are many other examples, such as personal protective equipment for the construction industry, where male dimensions have dominated until now.
Female leadership brings new perspectives
In an exclusive interview with LEADERSNET, Austrian Standards CEO Valerie Höllinger and COO Birgit Unger talked about their vision for diversity and 'design for all' to become lived practice: "The needs in our society are diverse, and only when all voices are heard can they be reflected in standards. In order to master the challenges of the coming years, such as digitalisation or the climate crisis, it is unthinkable to forego the opportunity of different perspectives".
Encouraging and supporting women
On 10 March, the first "Look! Women Empowerment Conference" took place in Vienna. Through a varied programme, women at all levels were to be shown new ways to successfully move into the future together. Mirjana Verena Mully, Head of Communications at ASI, gave exciting insights into the advantages of active participation in standardization and how female leadership is lived at Austrian Standards.
Getting the next generation on board
Austrian Standards has participated in Vienna Daughter's Day since 2012. Every year, on the initiative of the City of Vienna, female pupils are invited by companies to get an idea of modern professions. The young visitors look behind the scenes and playfully develop a standard together. At the same time, employees from different departments talk about their work and the managing director herself is available for questions and to get to know the company.
The Women's Day campaign is intended as a start for further measures to give the cause continuous visibility.
Giovanni COLLOT
gcollot@cencenelec.eu
