​​​​Ericsson Hungary, R&D Center

Budapest, Hungary, 2014, April 24​​​​​

Ericsson believes in diversity in all aspects, and we have a number of activities in place throughout the entire organization. At the Ericsson Hungary event, 24 secondary school students interacted with female engineers and programmers while they listened to presentations and participated in a laboratory visit. These students were acquired via contacts with secondary schools, a scientific association in Physics and Facebook.

The presentations very much focused on Ericsson as an organization and how future (female) students can contribute towards the company. In addition the female colleagues spoke about their career and personal lives as well. Afterwards the girls went for a visit to one of the largest research and development laboratories in Central Europe operating with wide-scale product portfolio of Ericsson. In the real world these products – developed and tested by the Hungarian engineers – are available at the telecommunications operators enabling the modern telecommunications services' infrastructure.

Ericsson Hungary participated in this program for the third time. The event is highly appreciated by both the students and the female engineers. 

"It was nostalgic to meet the girls being indefinite to find out what career they should have. I know and everybody knows that secondary school students do not receive enough support to be able to decide on their own. You should not decide instead of them, but rather show the different opportunities, professions and jobs. We spoke about our personal lives and career paths, and it became clear that what is important for them is not only the adults' work and the education they had, but also their daily routine. I really think these programs are very useful and can help them in orientation," said one of the three Hungarian presenters, Andrea Fonó, software developer, mother of three.

"My father works in IT and he insisted that I go to Ericsson on Girls' Day. I know that I want to study informatics and today's program and the lab visit at the Ericsson R&D Center just strengthened my determination. I am sure that I am on the right track," commented Zsuzsanna, a 17-year-old secondary school student from Budapest.