Interview of Monika Jaain (10/01/2012)

 

·         1st PART: Woman’s history comprehension/understanding

• Can you present yourself in a few words and explain us what is your job/responsibilities?

I’m an architect in  Prime SD Engg. Consultants Ltd. In the project I’m working on those days, I have to design a head center and houses for people who will work there.

• How did you come to engineering and sciences?

Actually at first I wanted to study chemistry. But the school I was accepted in was in south of India and my parents did not accepted me to be so far from home. I was also interested in architecture and there was that school in the city I lived in where I did my 5 years studies.

• Did you have to face any difficulty as a woman in your studies/in your job? Or do you think being  a women facilitated it?

I did not feel discrimination during my studies, we were 25% of girls and I didn’t feel alone. The only problem was that sometimes for project we had to work one week long with the group, sometimes without even sleeping. The students of the project and me used to meet in one of the student’s house and stayed there to work on our project. My parents didn’t really understand that at the beginning but then, they got used to it.

After school, being a woman became a real problem, as construction field was not really mixed in India at this time. It was not considered secure for me to go on construction sites, and as an architect it’s an essential part of the work. So companies didn’t want to hire me. By the way I have many friends who left India for US because they did not manage to find a job here. Others are only doing design, which is a desk job. I’ve been working in different companies before coming here, mainly drawing residential houses.

I’ve heard that it’s now more common to hire ladies architects, as there is more work for architects, when I went out of school the medium salary was 6000-7000 Rp. (approximately 100€), it’s now closer to 25 000 Rp. (350€).    

• How do you conciliate professional and personal life?

The only problem I have is when I need to leave the city for a few days because I need to visit a construction site which is far away. I’m able to do it now thanks to my husband who takes care of the house for a few days.  

• Could you tell us professional realizations you are proud of?

I’m proud of every realization, it’s really satisfying in the field of construction, to see your project growing and finally to see people happy to live in it. 

• What is your next challenge (professionally/in your association)?

My next challenge is to design an airport, it’s really complex, but even more interesting.

·         2nd PART:  General debate on woman engineer: differences and new things a woman can bring in a male team

• Do you think men and women work differently?

Could you give us concrete examples (personal works, project works)?

I don’t think that men and women work differently, it depends on the persons you’re working with. But I just noticed that usually women are more methodical and systematic than men.

·         3rd PART:  Vidéo

• Short representation

My name is Monika Jaain. I’m a graduated architect; I’ve been working for 14 years. I’ve been working on 80 projects of any kinds.  From the beginning I was a science student, but I didn’t always wanted to be an architect and I wanted to do chemical engineering. But at this point of time, the amount of women/men were too low and my parents didn’t let me go to the south of India.

So I went to an architecture school, we were 80 boys and 20 girls. It was a bit difficult, because a lot of men had the feeling that girls were just taking the seats which boys deserved men, then they get married and they never work as architects, which was something a bit true because I had a lot of girls friends who did so just after they passed and never play the role of an architect.  

But now in the school there are 50% of girls and 50% of boys, and I know a lot of professional women who are now successful architects.

• What has been your biggest difficulty as a women engineer?

Things have become easier; you can go to any site, take a morning fly go to the construction site and come back in the same day with the evening fly.

Everything has changed, even in the framework of the family. Even 10 years ago my husband would mind if I was going to sites visits and I stayed there for- I never used to go for nights out, I used to come back the same day.

But now, everyone is changing their perspectives, I keep going on construction site maybe 3-4 days. He takes care of my kids and I go out and stay there, because when you go far away you can’t come back the same day. And he is adjusted very well.

And even on site, maybe earlier the labors wouldn’t take women seriously, but now it’s not like that. They listen to you, it has become very easy, and I don’t find any place in which I’m not accepted.  

• Which advice would you give to any young woman who hesitates to start engineering studies? 

I would like to advice to all young women who want to get into the field of science and technology, without thinking twice: go ahead!

• What has been your best satisfaction as a women engineer?

Every project completed and well coordinated is a success.

The project we are doing here, a Transport Manufacturing plan. It’s one of the biggest projects I have done. It is a total site planning, landscaping, everything in one project.

My success will be the day all the building will run successfully.

• What is your next challenge?

I don’t know what is the next project that will come, all projects are challenges, some are smaller some are really big, but I’m prepared to any kind of project. Maybe some really difficult project, like doing an airport hangar, it’s coming, and I don’t know how to design a terminal building, how many passengers have to check in, departure, arrival etc. So I feel it’s going to be a big challenge I’ll have to design successfully.