Spain has 23 of the 69 EU-selected energy storage projects, including a 1,800 megawatt hydroelectric gigabattery.
1. Conecta Ingeniería on Capital Radio, hosted by Alberto Pérez, discusses women's representation in engineering with Mar López, Angélica Gómez, and Rosa de Arriba from the COGITI women engineers working group.
2. Mar López leads the COGITI women engineers working group within the National Council; Angélica Gómez was dean of Valencia's engineering college for eight years and sits on the UIT executive board; Rosa de Arriba coordinates the early-age vocation program.
3. The episode's central question is why women remain underrepresented in engineering and what a coordinated multi-block strategy can do to change it.
4. The COGITI women engineers working group operates across four blocks: a women-engineers barometer, institutional relations, early-age vocation programs, and a leadership cluster connecting women to executive positions in industry.
5. The barometer is described as Spain's first measurement tool exclusively tracking female engineers, establishing year-over-year data on numbers, locations, and persistent barriers.
6. The institutional relations block, coordinated by Angélica, pushes gender equity in engineering onto government agendas, arguing this is a 'state problem' requiring administrative action rather than just professional or corporate initiatives.
7. Mar López states that Spain will need more than 200,000 engineers in the next 10 years, but argues the shortage stems not from lack of vocational drive but from messaging — women do not recognize themselves in how engineering is described.
8. Rosa de Arriba created a quarterly engineering storybook for children aged 5 to 8, featuring aerospace, industrial, and mechanical engineer characters solving problems arising from everyday curiosity.
9. Rosa describes reading the storybook in four primary school classes and discovering that children had many female engineers in their families but did not recognize what those engineers did because they described them as 'just on the computer all day.'
10. Rosa observes that her daughter at age five already said 'sports is for boys' — demonstrating that gender stereotypes form before primary school and must be addressed at that developmental stage.
11. Alberto argues that Spain's GDP is only 40% industrial, with the remainder in services, hospitality, and tourism, creating a structural environment that neither values nor attracts engineering talent regardless of gender.
12. Angélica argues that the economic rewards structure currently prioritizes footballers, YouTubers, and influencers over engineers and scientists, making it culturally difficult to direct aspiration toward technical careers.
13. She frames this as requiring a change in 'the rules of the game' from childhood upward, combining educational reform, family roles, and policy — not just communication improvements.
14. The episode includes a segment on early childhood technology exposure, with Rosa noting she observes two extremes: children completely immersed in video games and those rejecting technology entirely, with parents of young children trying to reintroduce effort and analogue activities.
15. Angélica highlights that mathematics and physics are still described as subjects women 'don't like' when the real problem is that they are taught theoretically without practical application — a solvable pedagogical problem where engineers could contribute directly.
16. Woman Nation, founded by Angélica in parallel to the COGITI working group, is a movement that gives professional voice to women in leadership roles and generates visible role models without centering the conversation on difficulties.
17. The episode includes a brief side segment from Javier Font, a tetraplegic collaborator of the program for six years, illustrating Alberto's argument that engineers contribute altruistically across social domains — disability support, community services, media.
18. Tone is informal and conversational, with occasional political commentary from Alberto (critical of administration inaction), and warm chemistry between guests who have collaborated before across professional college networks.
19. The episode will resonate with engineering professionals, educators in STEM fields, policymakers working on gender equity, and anyone interested in vocational pipeline challenges in technical professions.
20. Listeners seeking technical engineering content rather than professional development and gender equity discussion will find the episode off-topic for their interests.
