Interview of Juemin Zhang (20/02/2012)

 First PART: Woman’s history comprehension/understanding

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

My chinese name is HHH but it’s difficult to remember. So my english name is Patty. Ten years ago a manager gave me two name : one is Suzanne and one is Patty. I choose Patty !

I graduated in 1987 from East China Science and Technical University, in Shanghai. My major is non metal low material : glass, ceramica...

After graduated, I entered the number one of the non material factory. It was a government investment factory, very large : more than 7000 person worked there. I was one of them for 7 years. At that time, China was just beginning its development, so the management was not really good, and a lot of people were working there and the salary was not very good, and as technician I couldn’t learn a lot.

In 1994, a foreign investment company went in Shanghai and built a new plant, Saint Gobain. They needed a lot  of engineers, experienced workers. So I quit the plant after a successful interview in Saint Gobain Abrasives Shanghai. At this time it was a really new plant. Good management, higher salary, communication with other countries and access to new technologies were provided to me. I worked there 18 years! The first 5 years I was in process department, the second 5 years I moved to the planning department, as a manager. Then I returned to the process department as the department manager.

Last year, I moved to a new plant located in Handan, as the Technical (production process) and Equipment manager. It was not easy, because it’s 1000 km from my city Shanghai and my family ! But my son is in University now. So I don’t have big responsibilities for my family. Considering this, I thought it was a good opportunity for me.  Here I can use my experience and my knowledge. It’s a kind of new life ! But I come here for 1 or 2 years only, to launch the factory. When the factory will run well, I’ll come back to Shanghai.

• How did you came to engineering and sciences?

At that time in China, “engineer”, like now, was considered as a respectable job, a technical job with high level and high salary. A student becoming an engineer hadn’t to worry about his job if he works well. It was and it’s still a really stable job. So most of university students wanted to be an engineer. So based on this idea I choose engineering, with the major “low material”. In China you have to choose your major when you enter the university. I choose this because I could see that China was not really well developed at this time, and one of the reason was because low material industry was not good. If you want to build a good plane, you need good material. My professor told us about this problem, and adviced us to choose this major.  At that time I didn’t know a lot about this, i just heard professor saying this, so why not ! And even engineering, I didn’t really know what it was. I just knew it was technical, more stable, higher salary. Not everyone can be an engineer. You need to pass some examinations, but after it’s really good for the reasons I said before. Yes, definitely, engineer is a really good job.

• 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?

In my major, there was one third of girls. It was not a problem to be a woman. Women and men can do the same things ! I didn’t have to face any difficulty.

I could notice that there was a lot of differences between major : in electrical, in mechanical, in IT, more boys. I don’t know how to explain that. Maybe for example for IT, because in this field you need to be really focus all the time on the language, 24h a day. A woman doesn’t have time to dedicate entirely to this. A woman may have to think to other things : marriage, taking care of the family etc. Sometimes employees sleep in the office for the IT job !

• What are the qualities required to do your job ?

You need to have a high sense of responsibility, you need to like to like this job and to have a lot of energy. And of course you need to be a hard worker ! It’s important to go everyday to work site, not only to stay in front of your computer !

• What are your everyday motivation ?

When somebody works, it’s to own money ! It’s the first thing ! And if your work is good you own more money. Then, as I work in this company for several years, I’m really used to my job : everyday I go to the work site, we always have new products, always have new problems to solve, so we always have to design new solutions and to test them, and I go everyday to check if these solution work or not and to check if  the whole process is running well or not. I love this job. Without this, I wouldn’t know what to do, my life would be empty I think !  I’m really happy with my life now, I don’t want to change !

• How do you conciliate professional and personal life?

Now my son is at university, so I have enough time and energy for my work. When my child was young, it was far more difficult ! You know, after graduated, 2 years later I married and 3 years later I got a baby. In China you have 3 months vacations for taking care of the baby and having some rest. But after you need to go to the plant ! At this time I was in the government factory. Everyday I took my child with me because in the plant they had a special place to take care of the babies of the mothers of the company. When I finished my work I took my baby back home and had to take care of him...In the night I could’nt sleep because he was crying ! But what is good with these 3 month holidays, is that the company doesn’t replace you at work. They keep the position for you and find somebody to do temporary job. But yes, it happened, sometimes when you come back you don’t have the work anymore. That’s why a lot of young women are anxious about having a baby ! Then, when I moved to Saint Gobain, my child was already 5 years old, so my grand parents could take care of him. At 5 years old it’s ok, they can take care of him because he knows how to speak, he doesn’t cry in the night and so on !

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

You know, I took a good habit when I began to work : everyday, in the early morning, I tour the plant, to see what is happening there, what are the potential problems we’ll have in the day and then focus on it to solve the problem or improve a precise thing in the whole process. With this habit, I accumulated so much experience and became really familiar with all the production process. It’s a really simple thing but I’m really proud of this habit ! Now when we face a new problem, I have worked so many years that generally I know how to handle problems, it’s a really high efficiency ! It’s easy for me now ! Yes, I’m proud of this knowledge, proud to be able to solve quickly technical problems, and also really proud to be able to train young engineers, for them to be able to solve the problems by themselves !

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

Handan is a new plant, it’s just starting and I just arrived in april ! Next june we begin mass production. Still now it’s a big success, but we still have a lot of things to do, a lot of problems to solve, and in the same time I have to train engineers because after I’ll go back to Shanghai so they will have to manage everything successfully by themselves !

Second 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?

At first, considering the same job, I would say no. But thinking more, I think women work more with their intuitions, their feelings. An other difference is that women are more flexible, more easy to communicate with. You know, one of my biggest experience in management was when I was the responsible of planning department in Saint Gobain. And there it was only women, except one intern ! For planning, I would say women are more detailed. They are more responsible because they would check all the details, they would report everyday what is the delay, how everything is going on in a really precise way, step by step.  Planning is not so technical job. That’s why you find more women. It’s not about new technologies, new solutions... You should only be really responsible and serious to do this job. In process, it’s different, because you have to face problems which stop the production. You have to use your brain to solve them and to learn all the time new knowledge. In my sense it’s more for men ! In general the women prefer to do than to invent. In general, men are more creative than women. But of course you can find women who are ! Finally, I want to say that maybe women are more responsible, but men can handle better the pressure. For responsibility, maybe it’s natural characteristic. It’s mother nature, the women has to take care of the child with a lot of attention. It’s the same with the job, women will be more responsible in their job. But men can deal more easily with pressure. You know, in China traditionaly it’s the man who has to own money for the family. You can imagine a family where the man work and not the woman, a family where both work, but for sure you can’t imagine a family where the woman is the only one to work ! So in China men are better to take pressure because they know they don’t have choice to face it !

• Do you think that a mixed team is helpful for working atmosphere and/or is linked to team performance?

Yes of course ! The productivity is not that good with only men. In a team with men and women, men would change their behavior, communicate better and would work really hard ! Maybe because he wants to show off (laughs) ! I think the best team is a men team with some women. A team with more women is not that good because sometimes for very small things women are easy to quarrel. And in the plant, it’s better to have more men because if you need to do heavy job the man can help the woman. Only women or only men it’s really bad, and more women than men not that good. In chinese we have this sentence : the job is not that boring if there are men and women / together we have better efficiency ! And if your feelings are good, you are more efficient. But all that is about nature ! But something important to highlight is that plant job is changing, now a lot of things is automatic, so more women can do this kind of job. Heavy job is rare now in our plants. And to go further, I want to say than for some jobs women have really higher efficiency, for example for some quality control where you have to be quick they are better.

Third PART: Video  

• Short representation

My Chinese name is HHH, my English name is Patty. I’m living in Shanghai. I have a family, with a husband and a son. I graduated from East China Sciences and Technology University in 1987. My major is non metal low materials. After that, I enter the number one government low material plant.

After 7 years, I joined Saint Gobain abrasives in Shanghai, in 1994. Until now, I have worked in Saint Gobain Abrasives for about 18 years.

In Saint Gobain Abrasives, I have been an engineer in Process Department, and last year I moved from Shanghai to Handan, because Handan built a new plant, so until now I worked here and I’m very happy.

• Which advice would you give to any young woman starting engineering studies?

I think for young students from the university, I think you should find a job that you like.

And then I think for young people in general: you should come to visit China! China is a very big countries, it has large populations, large scale, cultural diversity… So I think you should come here to communicate with Chinese people. So you will learn each other!

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

I think when I worked in the plant for so many years. But more difficult period is when I had a baby. For me, the work was really busy; I had to take care of my child and in the same time to do a lot of work for my job. So yes, this period was difficult for me !

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

I think the most satisfying job has been to come to Handan. Last year, when Handan built a new plant, the company let me come there to manage the Handan project. Here I’m responsible for technical and for equipment based on my experience. For me, it’s a good opportunity for Handan to build a new plant. So from last year I’m here, and until now, I have a lot of job, and Handan plant can run really successfully now.

So for me it’s a good opportunity, I can train a lot of engineers, and I can have Handan plant run very successfully.

• What is your next challenge?

Next challenge is to continue to do my present job, because Handan is run still less than one year, so it still has some problems, in process, equipment, producing fields.