Empowering women
At Climeworks, we combine purposeful work with the fostering of togetherness and inclusiveness. We know that to fight climate change, humanity’s greatest challenge, we’ll need disruptive thinking and diverse perspectives. On March 8, we focus on women’s empowerment, spotlighting their achievements and the obstacles that women still face. Women are underrepresented in many fields, particularly in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics), making up just 28% of the workforce. This is significant not only because women are excluded from some of the highest-paying jobs in STEM but because, scientifically speaking, mixed-gender teams make better business decisions than all-male teams.
Even with our efforts to support women at Climeworks, there’s still potential to grow. In much the same way as we’re pioneering a new industry for direct air capture, we’re also still in the process of developing our own community and company culture to better empower women. Currently, one-quarter of management positions at our company are held by women, with one-third of female employees overall. That’s why we want to reinforce this International Women’s Day theme of #EmbraceEquity by spotlighting 8 of our fantastic employees. We asked each Climeworker what can be done to support women and what companies like us can do to help.
Keep reading to see what they had to say!
8 inspiring perspectives on how to #EmbraceEquity
Nathalie Casas, Head R&D
What message do you want to send out to young women starting their careers?
“Do things you love to do and dare to jump into the deep end; this is the place where the magic happens. Don’t wait for people to come to you, be the driver of your career and ask for the things you want.”
What can companies do to embrace equity?
“If a company is open to diverse views and inputs and also appreciates and takes them into account, it’s doing many things right.”
Hilary Going, U.S. Sales Manager
What message do you want to send out to young women starting their careers?
“When I was just starting out, I felt a lot of imposter syndrome, and so I was often trying to be who I thought I was supposed to be, instead of just who I am. Luckily, I had colleagues and mentors who showed me that it was safe to be my whole self, and that when I was, I was much more impactful. I would advise young women not to make that same mistake — your value is in your authenticity!”
What can companies do to embrace equity?
“I think it’s important to call out the difference between equity and equality. Equality means everyone gets the same resources and opportunities, but equity recognizes that every person has different circumstances and takes the time to understand and allocate resources accordingly so that everyone is equal in the end. In that vein, I think the first step should be engaging with employees to understand where there is inequity within the company. Even engaging in these initial conversations and acknowledging that inequity exists is so powerful!”
Tiffany Chen, Senior Business Development Manager
How do you empower yourself and the women around you?
“It starts with valuing and promoting women’s unique qualities and strengths, which are often crowded out in a patriarchal society. It’s also important to recognize the social constructs that disadvantage females (i.e., lack of access to education, maternity support, and leadership gender diversity), and actively address these issues to drive positive change.”
What can companies do to embrace equity?
“Go beyond what regulation requires to provide true gender equality and diversity.”
Gary Watts, HSE Manager
What message do you want to send out to young women starting their careers?
“Never go out to be liked by everyone because that will make you compromise. Be yourself; you do you.”
What can companies do to embrace equity?
“It starts as early as the hiring process. We should take the time to look closely at our job descriptions — are we potentially discouraging people from applying to our roles with the language we use?”
Ursula Moismann, HR Team Assistant
What message do you want to send out to young women starting their careers?
“I think it’s important to have an idea of what you want your professional career path to look like, as well as what kind of private life you’d like to have. Find a partner who shares and supports your ideas, and stay flexible for changes that may come up in both lives, professional and personal.”
What can companies do to embrace equity?
“Give the opportunity to work part-time and offer the flexibility of working for both women and men. For example, by allowing more vacation days to accommodate school vacations.”
Julia Gerber, Test Engineer
What message do you want to send out to young women starting their careers?
“In my experience, women often underestimate themselves, despite their rich skill set. So, believe in yourself and in your skills and strengths. It’s also known that one usually promotes people that are like oneself. This is why old boys networks predominantly lead to the promotion of men. Thus, build networks, encourage each other, and challenge old boys networks.
What can companies do to embrace equity?
“Put structures in place that allow and encourage feedback, make working conditions attractive for women, and promote awareness for equity-related topics.”
Karin Zürcher, Design Manager
How do you empower yourself and the people around you?
“In principle, I am more in favor of general equality and think we should stop fighting for women’s rights only. We can’t split the world into two genders. I’m very aware of speaking inclusively and raising the topic in bigger groups. I make sure many gender-related user experience hurdles are moved out of the way. For example, selecting one of two genders in an online form.”
What can companies do to embrace equity?
“Respect all genders, address the topic of equality openly, and be transparent about salaries.”
Hadjar Moussa, Legal Intern
How do you empower yourself and the women around you?
“I’m a firm believer that change happens when we shift our perspective. Once we realize our value and embrace the enormous creative potential we carry as women, we have already made an impact. To empower myself means to walk through my struggles, to accept them as challenges and a way to constantly broaden my experience as a human.”
What can companies do to embrace equity?
“To build a fair, diverse, and inclusive workplace environment, companies should allocate resources to create opportunities tailored to women’s needs. Cultivating a safe space where women feel confident and supported in expressing their needs or concerns is a starting point.”
Now it’s over to you!
Women's empowerment shouldn’t happen just once a year, but every single day. How will you choose to empower those around you? Whether you stand up for your fellow human beings in times of difficulty or work to eliminate disadvantages in the workplace — with action, comes impact. Together, we can work toward a better world every day.
Inspired by our Climeworkers? To work alongside them, visit our: Careers page.
For more ways to make the world a better place, why not read: 6 ways to fight climate change at home.
What’s coming up next? For all the important dates this year, check out: Our environmental dates calendar.
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