Hispasat Encourages Gender Equality in Technical Careers

Hispasat global headquarters in Arganda del Rey, Spain. Photo: Hispasat

Hispasat has signed a collaboration agreement with Spain’s Ministry of Health, Social Services and Equality to join the project for implementing an anonymous curriculum vitae model for hiring personnel. The project seeks to promote effective equality in treatment and opportunities for women and men in job access and permanence, and aims to move toward a more balanced participation in positions of responsibility.

Since 2016, Hispasat had already eliminated gender bias in the selection of curriculums on their website, placing the spotlight on the qualifications and experience of the professional in the first phase of the selection process and ensuring gender confidentiality.

This initiative is part of Hispasat’s corporate social responsibility policy and its commitment to promoting equality, an area in which the company is particularly involved due to the low presence of women in the technology sector. According to data from Spain’s Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport, only 25 percent of students who pursue technical careers are women.

The low percentage of female talent in the satellite industry has led Hispasat to promote technical careers for young girls through collaboration with other entities that share the same concern. Accordingly, the company organized a workshop in 2016 for girls from ages 9 to 12 in order to stimulate their interest in science and technology as well as develop their creativity and entrepreneurial drive. The activity has continued this year with new Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) initiatives aimed at girls in order to encourage women to pursue technical studies at the university level and ensure increased female presence on the workforce in the future.