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Czech Space Week: Space industry needs more women

This conclusion was reached by participants in the Space for Women motivational breakfast in Brno

Czech Space Week: Space industry needs more women Source: CzechInvest

The second and last day of the Brno programme of Czech Space Week was focused on women. At the Space for Women motivational breakfast held on Thursday, 15 November 2018, six women specialists in the areas of law, psychology, space engineering, satellite navigation and IT spoke about why space is their passion and how women can break into this generally masculine field. Roughly fifty people attended the event. The whole morning resonated with a single clear message: the space industry needs more women.

Markéta Čápová of Honeywell, who previously worked for the European Space Agency (ESA), Ariane Wyen of OHB, psychology student Lucie Davidová, Tina Büchner da Costa of ArianeGroup, Kateřina Střelcová of the GNSS Agency and Bára Bühnová of Czechitas spoke about their professional beginnings, dreams and jobs and the possibilities of finding work in the space industry. The organisers of the ESA BIC Prague space incubator also prepared a bonus for attendees in the form of a video message from Karolína Rybářová, who works at the European space centre in Kourou, French Guiana.

The women present at the event in Brno concurred that they had never encountered major obstacles or discrimination in their space endeavours. On the contrary, they had rather received support, even from men. Women definitely have something to offer in the space industry, as they are adept at discussion and serving in the role of mediator between individual parties, which is undoubtedly helpful not only when working in science and management teams, but also in spacecraft crews. The discussion also touched on the fact that, unlike men, women have a tendency to undervalue themselves in interviews and often pass similar attitudes on to their children. The entire programme was hosted by Petr Kapoun, COO of S.A.B. Aerospace, in whose production facility the breakfast was held. Following the event, a number of participants took the opportunity to visit the publicly inaccessible part of the facility.

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