What Tech Women in Mexico Want
I recently had a birthday – the 34th to be exact – and couldn’t t help but reflect on what my life has been and who I have become, personally and professionally.
I live in Guadalajara, Mexico; I am the oldest of three; I had the chance to get a scholarship at the University of Arizona, where I graduated as an electrical engineer. Since then, I have worked at companies such as Motorola, Flextronics, Freescale and Intel. I started as a product engineer, worked as a hardware designer, lead a small technical support team and returned to be an individual contributor as a CAD engineer last summer.
While each of these companies and positions have given me different points of view, approaches to problem solving, different operation perspectives and of course a good amount of technical skills, I can’t help but think I could have used a little bit of help and experience from others as I advanced in my career, such as a mentor, coach, or sponsor. I have learned that sometimes hard work is not enough, and trying to be a one person band is also not the solution.
Different Mexican organizations have seen high results from number of women joining and growing in the labor force. In Mexican culture, mentoring, coaching, and sponsoring practices for women are not common. This has caused companies to realize that they need to support women’s professional development. The question that I am now raising is: How many Mexican women have set a professional career plan?
Currently, I am a member and a leader of WIN-Women at Intel (GDC Chapter), an internal program for women. Some of the main goals of this organization include career development, promotion of women in leadership, and volunteering, specifically in outreach education programs. Internally we have opportunity to look for a sponsor or coach. Having lived abroad, my view of this is that having a multicultural perspective opens more doors than we could imagine. This is why as a professional of the electronic community in Guadalajara, I am trying to find answers to the above questions, and as a member of WIN I am looking for coaches and mentors globally for our community.
It is imperative that Mexican women know the impact that their work has on our country, the importance of each of to plan a career path, and if possible, a to have a life plan to keep developing ourselves and our country.
Interested in being a mentor, sponsor, or coach for women at Intel in Guadalajara, or connecting with Ana? Contact her here.
You can also follow her on Twitter, or connect with her on LinkedIn.