As part of the BIEMH programme

The AFM Cluster, Bilbao Exhibition Centre and the Professional Women’s Network are bringing the Women in Industry (WIN) conference programme to the BIEMH-International Machine Tool Biennial for the first time. This is a space to reflect on and debate the need for gender equality in business and, especially, in industry.

It will be a specific area to discuss best practices as regards equality in the sector, given that less than a quarter of employees in this field are women. Women in Industry will be held as part of BIEMH, one of the most important industry events, with more than 1,300 exhibitor firms confirmed so far. The event will feature a significant programme of content, to which this programme will undoubtedly offer very real added value.

BIEMH and Women in Industry will be a perfect combination  to reflect, in a series of talks, debates and round tables, on the challenges faced by companies seeking to be competitive and where the gender gap is a further challenge. The aim is to raise awareness of the need to have more women in the industry, especially in leadership positions, and to get business leaders and politicians more involved in gender equality. Similarly, this programme seeks to offer proposals that make evident the importance of gender balance in the industrial sector, showing the benefits of gender equality in this economic sphere to achieve an advanced, more competitive, fair and balanced society.

Women in Industry

WIN will offer a series of sessions featuring inspiring, first-person experiences and best practices, challenges and proposals for a more balanced future.

The inaugural conference on the programme will be held on 14 June and will be on the topic of ‘Innovation, Creativity and Gender’; it will a review the various routes towards innovation and Industry 5.0. The same day, a round table has been organised on ‘New Technological Challenges for Industry,’ which will be closed by the Basque Government’s Regional Minister for Economic Development, Sustainability and the Environment, Arantxa Tapia.

On Wednesday, 15 June, the theme of the debate will be ‘Training Women Leaders for Industry’; it will feature Celia del Anca, Director of the Diversity Centre at the Instituto de Empresa, IE, who will analyse diversity in the corporate world, explain what gaps and tensions affect women in their personal and professional lives and propose some individual and collective strategies to tackle them. The debate will end with a roundtable on ‘Training and Employability in the industrial sector,’ featuring Teresa Laespada, Provincial Councillor for Employment, Social Inclusion and Equality of the Provincial Council of Biscay.

The topic of debate for Thursday, 16 June, is ‘Senior Talent: How to manage gender and generational diversity’, at which Montse Pichot (Talent Senior) will discuss the problem of over-50 women, who are excluded from the workplace because they are expelled by companies on the basis of their age. The roundtable debate on the same day will cover the theme of ‘Women and Industry. Keys from Experience,’ moderated by Tamara Yagüe, vice-president of PWN Bilbao, the president of FVEM and general manager of Tecuni. On 16 June, a second roundtable will be held; it will be moderated by Ana Andueza, the president of PWN Bilbao, with male CEOs and presidents, on the topic of ‘How to attract men. Cooperation for Equality.’

Professional Women’s Network

The Professional Women’s Network brings together more than 4,000 members and boasts a community of more than 20,000 professional women. As an organisation, it operates in 21 countries, with more than 28 local networks in 21 countries around the world, including three in Spain: Madrid, Barcelona and Bilbao, where it has been running for more than seven years, with 280 members (252 members and 28 other partners), as well as 13 partners and 2 other collaborators.

Bilbao Exhibition Centre and PWN Bilbao reached a collaboration agreement last February to work together to promote the progress of women in the workplace.

More information: PWN Bilbao