Accompanied by her daughter, special guest Ursula Flade-Ruf – founder of CENIT member company mip GmbH – offered the Round Table insights into her professional and private life. Afterwards, we took the opportunity to speak with Ursula about the Round Table as well as her thoughts on women in IT and the relevance of mentoring and networking.
Ursula, you took part in our first Female Round Table. What were your takeaways from this afternoon?
Ursula Flade-Ruf: First, I felt that the meeting took place in a very pleasant, open and warmhearted atmosphere. It was great to see that all the participants really wanted to move things forward. I was especially happy to see the diversity of age groups and task fields, and it was a pleasant surprise to hear everyone say that they felt highly appreciated in their work at CENIT. I didn’t have any concrete expectations in this regard, but it was nice to hear that women like working here.
Another aspect that struck me, however, was that traditional role divisions can still be seen at CENIT. Many of our women work in HR or marketing – a typical role distribution that we also see at mip.
I was surprised to hear about concerns that empowering women could lead to a discrimination of men. Promoting women within an enterprise doesn’t mean that men suffer disadvantages. It’s about advancing women without harming anyone else.
At the Round Table, you talked about your experiences as a business founder in the IT sector. How did these affect your view of female empowerment issues?
Ursula Flade-Ruf: When I founded my company in 1988, I didn’t pay any thought to whether or not this was something for a woman to do, or whether there would be obstacles. During my time at university, women made up almost 50 percent of the business management students, and these topics didn’t really come up in discussion. Over time, though, I realized that women often have to work harder to get the same feedback as men. We are viewed and criticized differently. That also applies to what we wear – something that rarely happens to men.
