Being a minority woman who works in a foreign technology company is certainly not an easy thing. That is what a modern Kartini, Veronika Andrews, from Solo, Central Java, has lived for 14 years at Boeing, one of the largest commercial aircraft manufacturers in the world.
After moving to Seattle, Washington following her husband who is from the United States, Veronika admits Boeing is her dream place of work even though she admits she has to work harder to compete with men.
"Building an airplane at that time was not something I could imagine, but from that moment on I had a commitment to be able to work at Boeing. My stance is solid. Boeing is my dream company," said Veronika in the Kartini Day 2022 webinar, Tuesday (19/4). /2022).
"Even though at that time many of my friends said that Boeing was a male-dominated company, you must have the courage to compete with men. I certainly answered why not," he continued.
His struggle to be accepted as a Boeing employee was not smooth. Veronika said she was rejected several times before being accepted at a non-governmental organization that handles teenagers.
While working, Veronika realized that her bachelor's degree from Eleven Maret University alone was not enough to apply for a job at Boeing. He then worked while studying again at Everett Community College taking computer science courses.
Already busy with studying during the day and working at night, Veronika is still looking for a side job. Starting from being a teaching assistant to cleaning the house, he did everything to pay for college and his children.
Veronika and her family also briefly moved to Brazil, where she took the opportunity to learn Portuguese and programming. A year later he again moved to California, USA and completed his studies. After that Veronika and her family returned to Seattle and tried to apply to Boeing again and was finally accepted as a contract employee for three months.
"I don't waste this opportunity. I work actively and not only that, I try to introduce and offer myself to other divisions when I'm on a break," explained Veronika.
"I gave them my resume. The effort did not betray the results, at the end of my contract, I was again offered two different divisions. From here I climbed a career at one of the Boeing airlines," he added.
Currently, Veronika is the Senior Project Manager at Boeing Commercial Airplane for the 777X Avionics Common Core System. His main task is to make project plans and lead the project team of engineers who are dominated by men. It's really not a job and a job.
After working at Boeing Veronika did not stop learning. He received his master's degree at the University of Phoenix and graduated with honors. Not only that, he also set aside time to be a mentor for students at ITB and UNS.
Veronika still remembers how at her first meeting as a project manager, she was the only woman in the meeting room and was even belittled by her coworkers. But now he sees a lot of positive changes at Boeing and feels even more motivated.
"We have to believe that we as women must be able to excel in the world of technology which is generally judged as the world of men. There is still a perception that men are real technology experts," said Veronika.
"But we must be able to change the concept of thinking like that. Women can be better in engineering, leading projects, being pilots, and so on because we are capable," he concluded.