Interview with Chitmanee Chiranantaratana

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 taking care of logistic supply and processing. Another side of my job is commercial, and another is operations. I have to deal with the plants and factories. I must have the technical background but not so deep. And on the other operations I have to understand it as well, for the ships for example, because Tipco has its own ships to carry bitumen. We have to coordinate with the refineries as well.  We are not fully responsible of this but we have to understand the operations as well in order to work together. I manage 3 men and 1 woman.

• How did you come to engineering and sciences?

My bachelor degree is in English. My master degree is in Business Administration. I learnt the technical part here in the company.

Firstly I didn’t join the company for the technical position, but for the job of secretary. I started with processing, we have to buy machines and material in countries like USA or Sweden, and I could use my ability in English. And then the more I work the more I learnt in technical. I don’t know deep technical but I know the general. I like to be in contact with the technical part, but sometimes if too technical I may not understand everything, like for chemical for example. My colleague explained me a lot, and on my side I’m willing to learn too!

After my bachelor degree, I worked in Association of Thai industries, so I met higher management level. When I attend the meeting, I could learn from this also. That is why I was interested by this kind of technical company. So I entered the company as a secretary and then after Tipco gave me the opportunity to be processor. And with this company I could continue my business bachelor degree during night class.

• What do you like in this company?

My work handle with bitumen, and there are not a lot of women in this field, and when I attend the meeting there are mostly men and I am proud! And it is good to be a woman in negotiation, because men in front of men the negotiation could be tough! And when I travel with men to visit refinery or jobsite, they welcome us very well. Even if in these cases we have to prove we are not fragile, not scared to go to the top of tanks for example.

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

Yes, sometimes men do jokes and it’s difficult to get along with them. Or at night they may go and drink beer. Well I don’t have problem with beer, but it’s just that it is sometimes difficult to get acceptance from the men. When I interview women for jobs I often ask if they can drink, just to see if they have to face the situation how they would react. In general they answer that normally they don’t drink, but for some occasions it’s not a problem.

• What are the special qualifications you need to have for your job?

Firstly we have to be fluent in English because we have to deal with overseas refinery and suppliers, and our working environment is more and more international. And also we need negotiation skills. On the technical background actually it is more a plus. Ability to learn is sufficient!

• What are your everyday motivations?

My motivation is to stay at this position and to be accepted in this industry, because the acceptance, the recognition is not easy.

• Do you have to move abroad for your job?

I didn’t have to move to other countries, but I have a lot of contacts with them: China, Korea, and Singapore. I don’t have to move to work there for a long time but I have to visit them sometimes, like ¾ times at the year. I move for around 2/3 days, it depends. Yes, it makes me think that for this position you mustn’t be scared to travel alone. The woman I manage is not scared either. It’s good because I want the girl to be my successor, because she is better in English. She is tough, independent. She is from the marine business. And she learns very quickly so it’s good for the company.

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

Most of the people in this field are men, and my staff and I are the only 2 girls, and we don’t mind to learn technical things. And I think the management trust on me. And I’m proud that I did nothing wrong during my work with money under the table or things like this. And I’m really happy my colleagues explained me a lot with the technical side.

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 think men and women have different points of interest. And when you begin a negotiation, it’s always good in the Asian way to talk about common points of interest. We have to read the newspaper to be able to talk about something else than the business. And our voice is not so loud and doesn’t fright them, and we smile a lot, so it’s good to be a woman in negotiation because men feel at ease with us. Of course we have to negotiate hard and to have strong analysis, but the meeting is more pleasant for men when it is us. And another thing is the physical. I’m short, and when I have to travel my colleague help me with my luggage! Lucky me with my colleague!

For the communication between men and women, it depends on individual. Some women are too feminine and so they cannot get along with the working environment with many many men. If you are too weak, if you cannot so this or this, it will be difficult. At least you need to be strong at certain point to get acceptance.  And a common weakness to the women is that we are emotional, sensitive. We have to control a lot our temper. By nature we are less tempered. For example when you drive a car, you can see that women lose their temper really easily. For me it is not so difficult because in my family I’m the older so I’m leader by nature. And during my studies I worked with rural communities so I learnt to adapt my behavior and language. Yes, communications skills depend on individual.

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

I prefer to have a team with men and women. But men are not so well organized like women. And women can look more on details than men. But men have power, they can carry heavy stuffs! All the paperwork, women are better. Men are not so careful. Men look more on big pictures.

Vidéo

• Can you present yourself in a few words ?

Hello, I'm responsible for logistic supply and processing at Tipco Asphalt public limited company, our company is involving in the manufacturer of Asphalt,

I'm dealing with refinery, with ships, and the company business is also involved in the road construction as well.

• Which advice could you give to young women who hesitate to start engineering studies ?

My personal view is that it could be a good challenge to prove to the worl that the women can do and also you'll feel the good feeling when you'll be recognized by

the men who worked with you. I think the benefits of the women is that we can, for little things, are more delicate than men.

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

The biggest difficulty I think should be that by nature, the women are mostly emotional, so you have to control your emotions very well.

• What has been your biggest satisfaction as a woman engineer ?

I think my biggest satisfaction is to be recognized by the men because in this field (bitumen and road construction) we are not many women.

But my job is not pure operations, half of it the commercial and the negociation for the prices or to get the supply, but in other part is the operations,

So there are more men in this business.

• What is your next challenge ?

My next challenge is to go to the highest management level, now I'm at the middle. We have to prove that we are tough enough and also we are capable and open minded to learn,

I think I need to have the twice efforts than the men have to do to go to the highest management level.