08 Mars 2023

Burdinola, supporting women and science

On the occasion of International Women's Day, at Burdinola we would like to highlight our commitment to equality not only today but during the whole year.

Our commitment as a company is to be a reference in equality both for the companies of the sector and for the surrounding companies. To this end, we have an equality commission that oversees the achievement and an equality plan, carried out by external consultants, for the achievement of real equality between women and men in Burdinola. 

- We seek a balance between women and men in the different structures that make up the company, in terms of presence, representation and decision-making structures.

- We integrate, in a transversal way, equality in business management.

- We are a benchmark in equality both for the companies in the sector and for the companies in the surrounding area.

Equality Commission of the Lea-Artibai Cooperatives Committee

The cooperatives that are part of the Association have set up an Equality Commission with the aim of sharing the actions that each cooperative carries out in relation to gender equality, and to be able to define and implement new actions in collaboration. The Commission is made up of representatives of each cooperative and a representative of Leartibai Fundazioa, as the driving force behind the Cooperation Committee. Within the framework of this initiative, the cooperatives Burdinola, Cikautxo, Eika, Fagor Arrasate, Kide, Maier and Laboral Kutxa, which are part of the association, will share their equality plans in order to transfer good practices and knowledge. The committee has also committed to design a joint action throughout the year. Through this practice, the Mesa de Cooperativas Association will join equality and women's empowerment initiatives, increasing its contribution to the social transformation of its environment.

Women scientists as role models in Lea Artibai

Careers related to science, technology, engineering and mathematics interest 0.7% of teenage girls, compared to 7% of boys, according to the study of the La Caixa Foundation entitled 'The field of STEM does not attract female talent' which was conducted in 2022. In Lea Artibai they want to break this male bias and have decided to make visible eleven female scientists of the region to serve as a model for girls who want to follow this path. With this objective, during the month of March, the shop windows of fifteen stores in the region will have a special place to bring to the public the professional career and contributions made by female researchers, engineers, mathematicians and teachers in the area. Among the role models in the region is the engineer Miren Irusta, who is currently developing her career as a lab designer in Burdinola. 

Burdinola Research Award

An activity in direct contact with the research teams and a special sensitivity to the social environment led Burdinola to come up with the idea of creating an award that would contribute to the recognition, appreciation and encouragement of the scientific community. This purpose materialized in 1993 with the launching of the first Burdinola Research Award. Since then, the list of award winners has been growing with great names of the Spanish scientific activity, such as Ms. Margarita Salas, awarded in the first editions of the award, or Ms. María José Alonso, Ms. Laura Lechuga Gómez and Ms. María Luz López Rodríguez, awarded in the last three editions. All of them are women with a first class research career with great scientific contributions of international scope.