March 8 2016 is International Women’s Day: a time to celebrate the achievements of women across the globe. At Thales we recognise the immense benefits that gender diversity in the workplace can bring; not only is it vital to innovation and performance but it’s also a matter of social cohesion.  We are proud that we can offer effective support to the women who work within the Thales group and who embody our core values.
 
Women currently make up only around 14% of the UK STEM workforce and although this figure is rising we know that we can do more to improve this. Through our collaboration with organisations such as Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) we strive to attract more women to roles in the STEM fields and to ensure we continue to strengthen the positive experiences of those already working with us.
 
So for our personal contribution to International Women’s Day we’ve invited seven colleagues to tell us a little more about themselves: what they do, who inspires them and what motivated them to join Thales.
 
As well as being committed to their work, our interviewees are also driven by the same enthusiasm in their private lives. We’ve discovered a dancer, a drift car driver, a basket maker, a reservist, a preacher, an ex-child actor and a body-builder!
 
We already know that women in this field are motivated, creative and passionate (amongst many other things) but we’re pleased to add to that list the words that they used to describe themselves: tenacious, bubbly, determined, busy, enthusiastic and conscientious. We think you’re all fabulous too!
 

DR CLAIRE PARFITT – Space Systems Engineer

To Mars…and beyond?

Claire describes herself as determined, and we believe her. At just four years old she told her parents that she wanted to be an astronaut and her dream of space exploration propelled her through the education system.
 
When Thales Alenia Space UK bought the company that Claire was working at, she was impressed by the amount of opportunities her new employers made available to young people. She is now a Space Systems Engineer and is working on the ExoMars Rover project, which is on course to be sent to explore the red planet in 2018, as well as being involved in a nuclear engine for interplanetary probes and a student mission to take photos of the Moon’s surface.
 
Her ideal female dinner party guests would include Naomi Climer, the first female president of the Institute of Engineering and Technology (IET), Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg and she’s inspired by Major Kate Philp who walked to the South Pole after losing her lower leg on active duty. Through her, Claire tries to keep life in perspective and stay positive when things aren’t going so well. She calls out to other women who may be put off by the gender imbalance in engineering:
 
"The only person who can stop you doing what you’re most passionate about is you, so go for it!"
   

DR KATIE SMITH – Algorithms Specialist

Wanted: a spell to magic up more hours in the day…

Katie’s talent for maths meant that career advisers felt duty-bound to push her towards a role in accounting. She wasn’t keen: "Having always enjoyed maths I wanted a job in which I could use mathematics in real world applications that affected real people’s lives." Luckily for us a friend suggested she applied to Thales, where she’s been since 1999, starting in the ‘Algorithm Development’ group.
 
She’s currently dividing her time between two roles: customer-funded research to model algorithm performance and feed into future platform design, and taking over the university liaison responsibility for MMS from a retiring colleague, which means meeting academics and defining projects for future research. Katie describes herself as…’busy’ (which we think may be an understatement) but she doesn’t stop once she’s finished for the day; outside of her packed work schedule she is also a preacher at her local Methodist church!
 
Melinda Gates’ charity work and stance on empowering women inspires her and a dream female dinner party line up would be Adele (for her hard work and non-conformity to pop’s physical ideal), Mother Theresa (for doing what she could in impoverished surroundings to improve the lives of others) and JK Rowling (for her perseverance and belief in herself – and also because of Katie’s love of the Harry Potter books).
 

HELEN MUNCIE – Defence Business Lead for Thales Cyber and Consulting

Blink…and she’s on to the next task

A PhD in Applied Psychology and a chance meeting with a truck simulator kick-started Helen’s career trajectory at Thales. "I was at DSEI 10 years ago...when I met a group of business leads from Thales Training and Simulation…I was interested to learn about other technologies that Thales was developing and how I could use my human factors knowledge to improve the designs."
 
Hers is a truly eventful role and getting hold of her may take some doing: "I’m usually interacting with clients, partners, customers and colleagues – I’m never at my desk!"
 
She describes herself as ‘enthusiastic’ and doesn’t have to look far for her inspiration. "My little sister: she runs her own company, works a six hour day and has the best work/life balance of anybody I know." As Helen’s also a reservist and has recently returned from four month’s active service in Afghanistan we reckon her sister is probably pretty inspired by Helen, too.
 
Her dinner party guests would include the singer Pink, Angelina Jolie Pitt (and her husband if he just had to come too!) and Cheryl Strayed, who hiked more than a thousand miles of the Pacific Crest Trail, something that features highly on Helen’s own bucket list…
 

NADIA JOHNSON – Software Engineering Apprentice

A stargazing, speed loving ambassador for STEM females

Nadia is one of Thales’s current five software degree apprentices, attending university on a Monday and working in the office the rest of the week. She’s currently working on an automated test system and was attracted to Thales after discovering the opportunities available to her that came both with her job role and in a wider capacity.
 
Describing herself as ‘conscientious’ she also uses her time to get involved ‘in a lot of STEM and WISE work, attending career fairs, workshops, conferences and award ceremonies. I’m also a newly-appointed member on the Apprentice Committee, which is launching in the near future.’
 
An inspiration on Nadia’s life is Emily Levesque, from the University of Washington’s astronomy department. As an astrophysics enthusiast herself, Nadia says "Emily has started to discover the hidden mechanisms driving the formation and collapse of massive stars and galaxies."

Nadia can often be found stargazing - British weather permitting of course - but in her free time (i.e. when she’s not studying, working, encouraging other women to take up engineering roles or camped out on a hillside with her telescope) Nadia is passionate about drift cars, spending the last few years working on her own. 
 

​​DAWN OHLSON – UK Director of Systems

But first, let’s celebrate her achievements…and her baskets!

2015’s First Women Awards recognised Dawn not just for her achievements in engineering but also for the impressive list of ‘firsts’ she has achieved. Not only was she the first member of her family to attend university (with funding help from a Thales’ sponsorship), but she was the youngest female Fellow at the Institute of Engineering & Technology (IET) as well as the first woman to chair one of their committees and is also the first female engineer to take up such a senior position at Thales.
 
Like Claire, above, she’s inspired by another notable first: the IET’s Naomi Climer. "She thoroughly deserves it and gave the best President’s Address that I’ve ever attended.’ Alongside Naomi, Dawn would invite U.S. astronaut Sandy Magnus and Paralympian Tanni Grey-Thompson to her dream dinner party. She’d also invite Sandi Toksvig, for her work on the newly-launched Women’s Equality Party, her successful writing and broadcasting career and to provide a few laughs at the same time. As Dawn says ‘I think that life without humour is pretty dull."
 
And Dawn may also have unknowingly achieved another first…is she the first Director of Systems who also teaches willow basket making in her spare time?
 

​​SARAH STOPPEL – Apprentice, Integrated Comms & Supervision Systems/Software

Goin' underground…

Sarah joined Thales as an apprentice after being impressed with the wide variety of projects and opportunities we offered that spanned all areas of engineering. Her role takes her deep under the city as she works on the underground network after the trains have stopped and, despite her days being fairly similar (she’s sleeping through most of them!), no two nights are ever the same.
 
"I could be pulling cables through tunnels or installing new equipment in the communication rooms."
 
Being naturally bubbly, a key area of enjoyment for her is working with people (even if she doesn’t see that many of them in a natural light) and in her free time she loves dancing. She’s currently learning different styles of aerial dance – so perhaps you’ll find her swinging from the roof of a tube tunnel sometime in the future!
 
Sarah has been inspired by not one outstanding female but a whole generation:  the courageous women who worked in the hazardous and previously male-dominated environments of British factories during the two world wars. 
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​​HEIDI WHITAKER – Outboard Assistant Project Manager

This job takes both physical and mental strength

Heidi has been with Thales since 2009, working at the same time as studying for her BA in Business & Management. "I knew I didn’t want to go to university full time; I wanted to get stuck in and learn outside of a classroom."

Having been part of the Submarine Mast Group and the Submarine Sonar Group she is now the Outboard Assistant Project Manager, dealing with the processes surrounding spares and repairs, from when they come in to them being shipped out to clients.
 
Alongside this, Heidi also runs education and outreach activities. One of these is the Thales stand at the Royal Bath & West Show, something that she starts planning months before the actual event.
                                                                        
Outside of work, Heidi admires International Federation of Bodybuilding and Fitness Pro Figure Louise Kayim and is considering competing herself next season ("I’m well known in my office for my protein powders!").

Her dream dinner guests are strong female role models, including actor and UN Women Goodwill Ambassador Emma Watson (this is also closely linked to Heidi’s love of Harry Potter),  Jennie Price, the CEO of Sport England and Clare Balding: "She’s doing a huge amount for how women are viewed in the public eye."
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