Penny Parker praises Schneider Electric for diversity and positivity

March 04, 2019

Where Women Work heard from Penny Parker, Senior Technical Training Instructor at Schneider Electric, about her job role and how working in a diverse, supportive environment has propelled her career.

What interests you in your role at Schneider and how has your career developed?

I love the diverse industries we are involved in: oil and gas, steel making, glass production, pharmaceuticals. There are not many careers where you see so many different manufacturing processes and feel constructively involved with them. I have travelled the world with my job and visited many interesting places that I would never otherwise have had a chance to go to, such as an off shore oil rig.

What's a big challenge for you right now?

Learning how to create training videos!

How would you explain your job to people not from your industry?

I show our customers how to customise and maintain some of the products and systems they have purchased from Eurotherm. For example, if a customer needs to measure the flow rate of an ingredient into a mixing tank, I show them how to connect the measurement into the system, perform calculations such as adjusting the flow rate for temperature and pressure differences and totalising if required, record it for long term analysis, and display the measurements and calculations on a customised mimic that the plant operators use to check the process status.

How has Schneider supported you?

My management team and peer group at Eurotherm have always been helpful and supportive, encouraging me to learn.

Who has been a guide or role model for you?

My peer group. I have worked for Eurotherm for over 32 years and had the advantage of working alongside many talented engineers who have been patient and supportive when helping me learn how the Eurotherm systems and products work.

What makes your work exciting?

The variety of industries we are involved with. The global and diverse interaction, I work with colleagues and customers all over the world.

What's impressive to you about Schneider Electric?

It’s very open and positive at all role levels. I feel very comfortable asking for managerial support, and voicing my opinion. Diversity is embraced. Job changes and career enhancements are actively encouraged.

How is the progression of female careers supported across Schneider?

I have never found that being female has been a hindrance at Eurotherm. In the early days of my career there were several male dominated sites where the nearest ladies’ loo was half an hour walk away in an office block, but that has improved! Apart from that, being female has never been an issue on any of the sites I have been on nor with any of the customers and colleagues I have worked with.

Engineering still seems to be considered a dirty and physically hard career. This can certainly be true, but there are also so many related aspects and jobs that are extremely interesting. The R&D (research and development) department, the marketing team, the projects teams that put the systems together and test them, the customer support team who answer the phone and help fix customer problems.

Most of our work in Eurotherm is using a computer at a comfy desk, in an open plan office surrounded by great colleagues developing and testing control programs, fixing customer problems and having interesting and stimulating conversations and learning every day. So, I think that more explanation of potential careers would help to support the progression.