Press “Not everyone can devote so much effort in order not to be discriminated against"

Double standards: The Portuguese EPP MEP said she had to work “twice as hard” to prove herself in fields dominated by men — be it when she started out in her career as an engineer, or now as an MEP working in digital policy. “Not everyone can devote so much effort in order not to be discriminated against,” da Graça Carvalho said. “I donʼt have children for example,” she said, saying itʼs much harder for those women who do. Still, she said: “I had to neglect some other parts of my life to devote a lot of time to my studies, and afterwards to my work.” Her report calls on the Commission to “fully assess the causes and factors that lead to a high drop-out rate of women from digital careers” and the effect of a lacking “work-life balance” has on womenʼs ability to “keep up” in the ICT sector.