The following two stories from Iran are extracts from the booklet 'Women in the Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Industry."
MAHNAZ SAYAHI
More than 15 years ago, I started a consultancy project with an old gas refinery, and it was necessary to visit the site in the process. The first time I went to the operational site, at the entrance gate, I found that all the communication tools warned that women could not enter the industrial area! Although I had passed all my safety training and they had a contract with my company to receive consultancy services, they could not allow a woman to enter the site: it was forbidden. It was then that I knew that this was exactly the path I should follow. It was the first, but not the last, situation in which I had to prove myself to the wide world of industry as a competent woman.
My experience of working in the industrial sector started in 2002 when I was working to complete my final thesis on flare gas recovery in petrochemical plants in the industrial zone of South Pars. That experience continued in several oil and gas refineries and small and medium-sized factories, which provided me with great opportunities for growth and success, despite their predominantly male environment.
"The absence e absence of women in various activities reinforces old stereotypes, and the proficiency of women is either not known or ignored.”
Challenges for women are not only stereotypes but also the limited participation of women in many activities. In most of the projects in which I participated, I would be denied access to the industrial area or have to face hesitations to cooperate with me as a consultant at the beginning, because people had reserves as to a woman’s competency in this regard. However, at the end of the day, I could always change the game, even when there was little opportunity for me to do so. It showed me that our industry has the capacity to develop its framework to accept cooperation with women. In our traditional and religious society, although women have been entering the industrial sector for several years, they have not been sufficiently involved in challenging and competitive situations. The absence of women in various activities reinforces old stereotypes, and the proficiency of women is either not known or ignored.
We need to practice, too, and I am sure that the industry is open and that there are welds, especially in environmental sectors, just waiting for women to help them develop. We need women who can serve as role models, not only for women, but also for men; women who are active in different areas and have enough skill to challenge the status quo. Role models strongly influence the way people communicate in the workplace.
At the moment, as a National Consultant on the Montreal Protocol Project, I have a professional relationship with several small and medium-sized factories and I think it is my responsibility to come across as a confident, competent woman and step forward to balance gender in my country’s industry.
TAKRAN MOBARED INDUSTRIAL COMPANY
More than 40% of the Takran Mobared Industrial Company’s employees are women. These women not only work in managerial, administrative and engineering positions, but also in production lines, along with men engaged in executive and operational operations such as head of production line, assembly operator, welder and so on.
"In the Takran Mobared Industrial Company, the presence of women is higher than in the average industrial workplace in Iran”
Contrary to what is expected in a religious city such as Qom, where the company is located, women play an equal role to men in the family economy and contribute an important part to the family income. In addition, traditional and religious restrictions have not forced tradeswomen to stay away from the social and occupational worlds, and, contrary to what some politicians are hinting or stating, women are actively involved in the workplace.
In the Takran Mobared Industrial Company, the presence of women is higher than in the average industrial workplace in Iran, as the board of directors is forward thinking and assesses men and women alike in their creation of added value for the company, in a balanced, equal way.
This is a surprise when it comes to seeing the number of women specializing in the corporate environment on any visit to the refrigeration factory, whether visitors come from government departments or private domestic and foreign companies.
