Dr Alina Andronache
United Kingdom
“What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals.” — Henry David Thoreau
what do you do?
I'm performing two roles, being an Information Security Analyst at Simply Business - one of the UK's largest online business insurance brokers and the second role is at University of the West of Scotland, where I am a Second Supervisor & Assessor for PhD students
What is your favourite aspect of the STEM industry?
It's an exciting and versatile sector that offers an endless range of learning and practice opportunities. What I like the most is that has sense of purpose and it always evolves nurturing a competitive change.
What is your typical day like?
There are no two days alike.
At Simply Business I'm part of a team that seeks to support the business units to identify cyber risks that they face, making sure they have adequate controls in place to manage those risks, and recommending improvements such as they can manage those risks. This activity it’s a complex task that implies exciting and different activities every day.
At the University of the West of Scotland, I’m evaluating the progress of the PhD student's and where necessary provide guidance throughout their academic studies.
What do you feel, being a successful woman in such a male-dominated industry?
I'm proud to say that I'm part of an
environment where I do not feel different
than my peers. Everyone is mindful to be
inclusive and supportive with women in the workplace, to support retention and business performance.
Is there one thing you would like to see changed in your field?
There are actually two things that I believe need sustained support:
1) eliminating barriers and biases that women might encounter in the workplace due to the longstanding image and pattern that tech is an industry for men only.
2) offering more opportunities and support to those that want to join this field.
I’m a person with a natural curiosity and I’m always keen to learn new things.
In 2015 I decided to embark on a transformational journey to convert my hobby into a new career path – a career for life! After many years in a different sector, doing something else, I acknowledge my passion and enthusiasm for cybersecurity, governance, risks and compliance. My curiosity and passion have driven me to research industry practices and engage with the security community, gaining more insights, expertise; all of which contributed to my research about Cybersecurity Management and Enterprise Risk Management.
At the other end, technology has a tremendous impact in shaping business models, and therefore, there's so much potential to contribute, innovate and collaborate. My journey continues even today, and still passionate and interested to learn more hence threats are constantly changing, requiring me to continuously adapt, to champion change and to protect /
Connect with Dr Alina
Do you have any other advice for women entering male-dominated fields?
Trust yourself in dreaming big and be consistent in making small, baby steps everyday to achieve those goals! Plan, believe and you will get there stronger!