Elena Nogueroles’ days seem to have more than 24 hours. Her secret? Efficiency and organisation. She has been in the sector for more than three decades, and more than half of this time, she has been managing the maintenance and construction of high voltage infrastructure out in the field, a task that requires excellent qualifications and dedication, both in terms of time and energy.
The incorporation of women in the labour market “has forced us to be more organised and efficient. We have efficiency in our DNA because either you organise yourself or die, there is no other option”. Furthermore, for Elena Nogueroles, a veteran in field of high voltage electricity and transmission, it is not necessary to choose “between being a good mother or a good professional. Everything can be done; I am a proud mother, but I am also a person dedicated to my work and many other things.”
Elena joined Red Eléctrica in 1988 and has been, “without being aware of it”, a pioneer for women on several occasions: she was the first graduate who was part of the maintenance and construction teams out in the field and the first woman to take full charge of one of these teams, the Northwest Regional Area. With more than a hundred people under her charge, most of them men, it is not an easy geographical area because of its vast territorial area, which extends from Salamanca to Cantabria and from Segovia to Galicia.
Despite the clichés that may exist regarding female professionals out in the field, Elena states “I have never had anyone take issue with me due to the fact I was a woman. Neither as a technical expert, nor as a manager.”
The times in which we live, says the Manager of the Lines Maintenance Department, gives men the possibility of being more participative in a facet of life previously unknown to them: the family environment. “It is a real opportunity to connect with their children, which is very rewarding. It is something wonderful they were missing out on before.”
As a mother, Elena has not and does not cut herself out of the loop in any way: she picks up the phone every time one of her three children calls her. “I have always done it and I have never been afraid to do so. Moreover, whenever this was the case, I have always told anyone present as though it was the most natural thing in the world that I need to take the call from my son”. Now, she is happy to see that this situation has become the norm: "men do it too."
Women at Red Eléctrica represent...