Alexandra Sirianni is a manager at Deloitte. Alexandra is also part of the company’s Women at the Wheel community, which is dedicated to increasing gender diversity in the next automotive industry leaders. This year, Women at the Wheel is releasing the findings of an automotive industry survey that looks to explore workers’ views on the retention and advancement of women working in the automotive industry.
“To drive real change in an industry where women account for only 20% of the workforce and 8% of executives, it’s so important that women have access to role models, development opportunities, and a community to collaborate with.”
From Toronto to Deloitte
I’m originally from Toronto and moved to London (many years ago now!) to complete an MSc in Social Research Methods at the London School of Economics. I’ve worked across multiple industries since then, including financial services, media, and now automotive –always in data and analytics.
I started my career as a data analyst helping businesses to understand and manage consumer decision making. I’m now a manager at Deloitte where I deliver large-scale data and analytics programmes with OEMs (original equipment manufacturers).
I also lead the day-to-day of Deloitte’s Women at the Wheel, a community focused on driving greater gender diversity and inclusion amongst the next generation of automotive industry leaders.
My day typically starts with a 15-minute project stand-up (these days on Zoom), where the team shares their objectives for the day. I then spend most of my time working with clients to understand their key business questions, prioritising requirements, and designing and building solutions with data engineers, visualisation developers, and data architects.
I often work across every business function, which I love because the problems and complexities are always different, and I feel like I’m able to make a real impact across an organisation!
I also have a Zoom call or two with the wonderful Deloitte team that organises Women at the Wheel – we’re always working on something, whether it’s our next webinar, newsletter, or community event.
Supporting women working in automotive
Deloitte’s Women at the Wheel (WatW) is a community for women and men working in the automotive industry. Our members are engineers and data scientists, experts in supply chain to aftersales, and interns through to CEOs.
Since our foundation four years ago, we’ve grown to more than 700 members from 150 different organisations across the UK – which feels unreal!
To drive real change in an industry where women account for only 20% of the workforce and 8% of executives, it’s so important that women have access to role models, development opportunities, and a community to collaborate with.
I got involved in WatW originally because I was new to the industry, so it was a way for me to build my knowledge and my network, and of course I’m hugely passionate about diversity – I wanted to do what I could to support the career journeys of women, because I feel like I’ve really benefitted from an amazing level of support throughout mine.
A new reality: Webinars
I’m really excited about our upcoming calendar of events. We’ve recently gone digital, given the current environment, so more members are able to join us from across the UK. It’s been great to see so many new faces!
Our webinars (for example, this webinar about analytics in automotive) aim to introduce women to areas of the industry that they might not normally have exposure to in their own role. In this way, we hope to close the often talked about “confidence gap” between men and women, where women are less likely to speak about subjects that they don’t know 100%.
Our next webinar is a panel discussion about how engineering has changed during lockdown and the potential for new and exciting ways of working going forwards. It should be a really great discussion!
The 2020 Women in Automotive Study
This is a project at WatW that I’m personally very excited about, because it combines my love of data and passion for diversity!
The study, which is part quantitative and part qualitative, explores views on the retention and advancement of women working in the automotive industry. Deloitte has conducted similar studies previously, most recently in 2018, so it will be interesting to see how views have changed (or not).
I think there is an important role for communities like Women at the Wheel to not only support women on their individual career journeys, but also support discussion within the wider industry. We want this study to offer concrete next steps for individuals, organisations, and the industry – all of whom play an important role in driving progress and impacting change.
The automotive industry is changing
There is so much exciting change happening in the industry right now: consumer behaviours are shifting, technology is advancing, and new entrants are disrupting the competitor landscape. There is so much opportunity in this pressured market to gain a competitive advantage through analytics.
Personally, I’m looking forward to supporting my clients in answering their most complex business questions and delivering their most important analytics use cases.
For Women at the Wheel, I can’t wait to share the findings of our 2020 Women in the Automotive study!
https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexandra-sirianni-bb5a9448/
https://www2.deloitte.com/uk/en.html
