I thought I would never be able to contribute to empowering women as I always dreamt of doing, but after meeting new people as well as reading many successful women’s stories, I told myself that despite my limitations and weakness, I could always inspiring others by doing my best in the field that I’m in.
Victoria Smith
Timor Leste
Victoria Smith
When Victoria Smith was a child, she always imagined herself growing up to be a charismatic woman who could lead for women, but as she was growing up, she realized she was in fact shy from being the center of attention. However, meeting other women and hearing their stories is what made her believe in herself and exposing more of her skills and talents- which has made her the woman she is today.
Victoria is an electrical engineer, and received her degree from Yogyakata, Indonesia. She started her professional career as a transmission network planning engineer, a Portugese and Timor-Leste telecommunications operator in Dili, Timor-Leste. She was then sent for training in the Philippines for 6 months, which then led to her enrolling in Charles Darwin University in Australia for a certification in instrumentation.
Currently, she’s working for offshore maintenance as an instrumentation and control assistant technician. Putting in lots of hours in inspections of the safety control systems on the rig, she works on the most complex oil and gas rigs in the world located 500mk from shore.
Victoria’s career path is an inspiration in overcoming gender stereotypes by taking part in a male-dominante industry. Working in a vigorous engineer field, Victoria has proven that gender isn’t a factor in the career choice one makes. Through these means, she promotes gender equality and wants other women to know that they too can work in fields like offshore engineering, because her path has shown it’s possible.
Artist: Ade Aqsho Zulhida, from Indonesia