This spring, Federica Campagna and Jennifer Hildebrand represented Bakelite in Dublin, Ireland at two leading conferences focused on women in manufacturing and engineering.
By attending parallel sessions across both events, they were able to cover a wide range of topics—bringing back valuable insights on how careers, leadership, and workplace dynamics are continuing to evolve across the industry.
Across both conferences, several consistent ideas emerged:
- Careers are becoming less linear, with growth shaped not only by performance, but by value creation, direction, and intentional visibility. Ensuring contributions are seen and understood is increasingly as important as the work itself.
- Strong networks continue to play a critical role in career development. With women still underrepresented in manufacturing, connection helps reduce professional isolation—while cross‑industry engagement creates opportunities for new perspectives and innovation.
- Exposure remains a key driver of growth at every stage. Increasing visibility into different roles, disciplines, and career paths helps broaden aspirations and supports more flexible development through cross‑functional experiences and continuous learning.
- Leadership expectations are evolving, with greater emphasis on authenticity, empathy, and communication. At the same time, challenges and setbacks are increasingly viewed as opportunities for learning and growth.
Beyond the sessions themselves, time in Dublin also created opportunities to exchange ideas, strengthen alignment, and build new connections across the broader manufacturing and engineering community.
With fresh insights and new perspectives brought back from Dublin, Bakelite is well positioned to continue supporting learning, connection, and growth across its teams.
