Women in STEM: Virginia Faro-Maza on International Women’s Day 2025
Tomorrow, 8th March, we celebrate International Women’s Day 2025.
The theme for IWD 2025 is #AccelerateAction towards gender equality. This year’s theme calls for increased momentum and urgency in addressing the systemic barriers and biases that women face, both in personal and professional spheres.
At Cirdan, we advocate for equal inclusion and opportunity for women, particularly in STEM industries. Having a large percentage of women amongst our own team, we would like to take the opportunity to highlight the vital roles and responsibilities they carry out every day. The commitment and results which they deliver help us to further Cirdan’s mission of revolutionising the future of healthcare.
Today’s International Women’s Day Women in STEM special highlights Virginia Faro-Maza, Senior Software Engineer here at Cirdan. We caught up with Virginia to hear about her experience as a woman in STEM:
Growing up, what was your dream career? How does that compare with your current role?
When I was a kid, I always thought about becoming a doctor or a defense lawyer, so that my job would allow me to help people, but my favourite subject in school was always maths. When it came time for me to choose which degree to study, I seriously considered physiotherapy, but in the end I decided on an applied mathematics degree. Luckily for me, I eventually found a job where I can have fun programming, and also indirectly help improve patient outcomes by working on Cirdan’s solutions.
Do you have a female role model? Why are they your role model?
I have to go for a classic! I’ve always admired Marie Curie, for lots of reasons. Mainly for pursuing a career in science in a time when very few women did or could, and for winning not only one but two Nobel prizes!
Have you had opportunities to mentor, advocate for, or collaborate with other women in STEM? What was that experience like?
As a software engineer, I have worked with many women over the years and I always thoroughly enjoy the experience. Of course I have to give a special shoutout to the fantastic women who I have the opportunity to work with every day at Cirdan! We work together really effectively and constantly learn a lot from each other.
Based on your own experience, what advice would you give to women wanting to begin or advance their career in STEM?
Go for it! A career in software engineering is very rewarding if you like investigating and solving problems. Nowadays, software is used for everything, so you have so many options to pursue software in whatever your field of interest is! It would be great to see more women working in software!
As we celebrate International Women’s Day, it is important to reflect on the incredible achievements of women in STEM fields like Virginia, where their innovation, dedication, and resilience continue to shape the future.