Suzana Gotovac Atlagić, Director of NanoPoli Centre Ltd. and Associate Professor at the University of Banja Luka, made a decision on repatriating to her home country of Bosnia and Herzegovina after obtaining PhD and master degree in nanotechnologies abroad. She defines her success only through the number of young people whom she mentored while most of her students are girls. Suzana often meets with some “walls” when promoting the best practices which she absorbed in Japan or Switzerland. To her view, somehow, people like to remain in the zone of comfort, and it is hard to convince them to change.
Q.: The Raw Materials sector is a particularly demanding professional area that supports modern technological trends yet identified more by its conservative structure in terms of administration and operations. How/why did you choose this sector as a career path?
Suzana Gotovac Atlagić: As most of our colleagues do when asked about the carrier choice, I would also refer to my childhood. I must say that only now I realize how Yugoslavia, the country in which I was born, had an incredible promotional programs for the professional development. To put it simply in the contemporary slang: it was “cool” there to be an engineer. I grew up with this image and it came naturally to me to study something related to material sciences because I was growing up in the city with long chemical industry history, Teslić. Selection of studying technology was absolutely my only choice. I wasn’t even thinking about the gender perspective at that time, because chemistry and technology experts in our country were very often women.
Q.: Tell us a few things about your experience as a professional. What challenge(s) have you encountered, in your work environment?
Suzana Gotovac Atlagić: The only challenge, if I can summarize it somehow, is the lack of understanding for the people who bring new knowledge from abroad. As the repatriate myself, I often meet with some “walls” when promoting the best practices which I absorbed in Japan or Switzerland. Mostly I talk about the way of communicating with different industry and writing multidisciplinary projects. Somehow, people like to remain in the zone of comfort, and it is hard to convince them to change.
I sometimes do not see enough understanding from my peers, for my constant strive to take my students to as many industrial locations as possible. I am a nanotechnology innovator, holding two patents and based in the academia, but I express very strong respect to the engineers working in Bosnian industry whom I meet. I know they are working in much harder conditions than myself but still there are so many of them thinking on daily level about how could they innovate, both in terms of new materials but also about energy efficiency or things like work safety for their teams which is impressive.
Q.: What is acknowledged and welcome in recent years, is an attempt of the RM industry to set up a direct and meaningful communication channel with modern societies that are more aware of the sector's pros and cons. In this context, albit at a gradual pace, women are entrusted with executive level jobs or elected to positions. What are your thoughts about inclusion and diversity in that context?
Suzana Gotovac Atlagić: I would again stress that I do meet many female experts in the material sector both in academia and in the industry, but I will definitely agree that their number in leading positions is disproportionally lower which needs to be changed.
Q.: What are the «critical raw materials» for a woman in the RM sector to maintain the difficult but essential work-life balance?
Suzana Gotovac Atlagić: I will put it as simple as it is: strong support maternity policies. Full stop!
If women can have good support during the crucial periods in forming a family, then they can give a lot to the material sector. In particular, it goes to 3 points: having possibility for remaining at work late into pregnancy under safer work conditions, 100% salary for at least 1 year and affordable child care. I must say that my country does have these policies traditionally.
As a mother of three young children who were enrolled in the municipality kindergarten, where they were safe and educated, socializing and learning new skills every day, I was able to fully return to my duties and be an efficient professional. Emotionally, I also felt grateful for that and must admit that I was maybe giving 200% in the months after maternity leave. With some busy schedules and frequents trips and some overwork when important projects are ongoing, understanding from the spouse or partner is crucial.
In recent years, as most of professionals, I also realize the importance of the off-screen time and trips to the nature and try to organize those moments very well. Off-screen time in our home usually goes with our youngest daughter giving us a “theatrical play” she invented, but as for the family trips, we visit relatives in Bosnian villages during weekends and take short summer/winter trips to European cities with rich history.
SHORT BIO
Suzana Gotovac Atlagić made a decision on repatriating to her home country of Bosnia and Herzegovina after obtaining PhD and master degree in nanotechnologies abroad. She spent 5 years as a student in Japan and 3 years as the researcher in Switzerland in the meantime.
Today, she has no doubts that the decision was the right one regardless the fact that many of her colleagues, once given a chance to study or work abroad, often decide not to return. She defines her success only through the number of young people whom she mentored, while giving them chance to visit other countries, have exchanges and present at international conferences through her projects.
However, she supports most of them to ultimately find stable jobs in Bosnian material industry, analytical laboratories or educational sector. Most of her students are girls, proving that this country has a great tradition of female incorporation into material sector.
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