Florence (Air Liquide): “Women in leadership positions in technical environments are fortunately no longer the exception.”

Women in Tech - Florence Berbers, ROCC Deputy Manager

Florence Berbers – 35 years old and living in Wavre, just south of Brussels – has been working at Air Liquide since 2010. A few months ago she was appointed Deputy Manager at the Remote Operation Control Center (ROCC) in Evere.

Florence had never heard of Air Liquide before but, when she came across an attractive job description from the French company, she decided to apply immediately. Florence was successful and ended up at the ROCC in 2010. This is the department which supervises Air Liquide’s gas pipeline networks, which are several thousand kilometres in length. 

Four years later, Florence swapped the ROCC for Air Liquide’s medical branch, where she worked in the Home Care department for a further four years. After eight years of service, in 2018, she made the decision to move to Sweden with her family. Air Liquide had no openings for her there, so she had no choice but to leave the company.

Back in the ROCC

By the end of 2020, Florence was back in Belgium... and working once again in the ROCC at Air Liquide! With her track record and the fact that the ROCC has been scaling up, Florence was appointed Deputy Manager.

"The ROCC had become too big to be handled by a single manager, so we needed a deputy. And that was exactly the time I came around the corner again, so it worked out very well!

There are about 20 people in the ROCC who work 24/7 shifts because, of course, the pipelines and factories need constant maintenance.  They are supervised by several managers, who help oversee the various networks, applying their methods and training, and their project management skills. And then you have the ROCC Manager and myself."

Majority male

As a young girl, Florence never dreamt of studying science or working in an industrial company. But, during her education she became more and more fascinated by mathematics and science and started thinking about studying science. Finally, she decided to take the civil engineering entrance exam. 

Florence passed and went on to study at the Polytechnic School — where she specialized in biomedical technology — at UC Louvain-La-Neuve. "The vast majority of the students were boys — about 90% — but that didn’t bother me. I grew up with three older brothers, so I was already used to a masculine majority."

The ROCC employs mostly men. "That’s true, but in fact it makes no difference at all. Everyone is treated the same. I notice it when I come into contact with our customers too. Nobody is surprised anymore when they get a woman on the line. For a long time now women in leadership positions in technical environments are fortunately, no longer the exception.”

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"In my opinion, Air Liquide handles this very well. There are a lot of women in leading positions here, and in overtly technical roles too. Sometimes a woman in overalls has to go on site to solve a problem, but that's part of the job."

Linkedin

Florence Berbers@Women in Tech — Remote Operation Control Center Deputy Manager 

"Women in leadership positions in technical environments are fortunately no longer the exception.”

Florence Berbers@Women in Tech — Deputy Manager in the ROCC

"There are a lot of women in leadership positions here, even in overtly explicit technical roles. Sometimes a woman in overalls has to go on site to solve a problem, but that’s all part of the job."

Florence Berbers@Women in Tech — ROCC Deputy Manager

The ROCC (Remote Operation Control Center) employs mostly men. "That's true, but actually it doesn't make any difference at all. Everyone is treated the same. I notice this when I come into contact with our customers too. Nobody is surprised anymore when they get a woman on the line."

Twitter

• Florence Berbers@Women in Tech — Remote Operation Control Center Deputy Manager  “Women in leadership positions in technical environments are fortunately no longer the exception.”
• Florence Berbers@Women in Tech — ROCC "There are a lot of women in leadership positions here, even in distinctly technical roles."
• Florence Berbers@Women in Tech — ROCC Deputy Manager "Working in the ROCC, mostly with men, but actually that makes no difference. Everyone is treated the same."