For this year’s International Women’s Day on 8 March, we’re talking to Clara Soler Bañuelos, a Researcher at CIMNE’s Innovation Unit in Transport (CENIT) – and PhD fellow at The Metropolitan Transport Authority of the Barcelona Area (ATM).
From Civil Engineering to Transport Economics
Clara Soler’s journey into transport research began like many others in civil engineering—driven by a desire to build things. However, as she explored different aspects of the field, she found herself drawn toward public transport.
“Like everybody else, you get into civil engineering because you want to build bridges, roads and tunnels,” Clara explains. “But then, as you move on through the subjects, you realize you don’t want to focus your whole career on bridges.”
Living in Barcelona, a city known for its extensive public transportation network, further reinforced her interest in the field. Now a PhD candidate and researcher in transport economics, Clara is working on a sustainable and resilient financing model for public transport with the Autoritat del Transport Metropolità de Barcelona. Her research is focused on ensuring long-term funding, assessing new revenue sources, and making transportation systems financially resilient.
“Public transportation is underfunded,” she says. “A big chunk of it is subsidized by the government, but we need more rolling stock, more infrastructure, and upgrades. My PhD aims to create a financial model to ensure we have the necessary funds until 2040.”
Challenges as a Woman in Engineering
Although engineering as a whole has made strides in gender diversity, Clara acknowledges that transportation and civil engineering remain male-dominated.
“From the transportation, civil engineering, and industrial engineering standpoint, it’s mostly men,” she notes. “But from the financing standpoint, it’s mostly women.”
During her time working in construction project management, she rarely saw women in managerial roles. “When I was working in construction, there were maybe a few women in legal or finance, but not in engineering leadership positions,” she recalls.
While Clara wasn’t discouraged from pursuing engineering, she also wasn’t actively encouraged. Unlike previous generations where women were often steered toward traditionally female-dominated careers, Clara experienced a more neutral approach in school. “Nobody ever told me, ‘No, you can’t do this,’ but they also didn’t push me toward it either.”
Inspiring the Next Generation of Women Engineers
Now, Clara is actively working to change that by supporting young girls interested in STEM careers. She has participated in initiatives like “100tífiques,” which brings female scientists and engineers to schools in Catalonia to talk to students about their careers.
“I spoke to kids aged 8 to 10, and they asked genuine questions like, ‘Did your friends support you?’ and ‘Did you lose friends because of your career?’” Clara says. “I focused my speech on telling them: ‘Do not let anybody tell you that this is either too hard or too manly.’”
Clara believes that seeing women in engineering roles makes a real difference. “If just one girl who was hesitant listens to me and realizes she can do it, then it’s worth it,” she says. “They didn’t have these programs when I was young, but now they are actively encouraging girls to go into science.”
Her hope is that future generations will find it easier to pursue careers in engineering, especially as more women enter the field and serve as role models. “When you see other women who have done it before you, it makes it easier to imagine yourself doing it too”, she concludes.
