Austrian Muslim engineer opens doors for women in STEM
Esma Atak has built a career in Austria’s male-dominated construction industry while mentoring girls and young people from immigrant backgrounds
VIENNA (MNTV) — Esma Atak is used to being one of the few women on a construction site. The Austrian civil engineer is now using that experience to encourage more girls — particularly those from immigrant backgrounds — to enter technical professions.
Atak, a graduate of the University of Applied Sciences in Vienna with bachelor’s and master’s degrees in civil engineering and construction management, works as a civil engineer for construction company Strabag.
She has also become a prominent advocate for women entering traditionally male-dominated technical fields.
Her work was recognised with the Future Hero Award from Hochschule Campus Wien, which honours graduates for contributions to society and their communities.
The university described Atak as a “visible Muslim” who has confronted prejudice in a traditionally male profession while working to expand opportunities for women.
Her outreach includes school workshops and talks across Vienna, Lower Austria and Burgenland, where she encourages girls to consider technical careers and discusses subjects including equal opportunity, the gender pay gap and what researchers call the “dream gap” — the ways social expectations can narrow young people’s ambitions.
Atak is also involved with several initiatives supporting women and young people, including Let’s Empower Austria, Fem* in Tech and Zusammen:Österreich.
She has established women’s networks of her own and works as a role model for students considering careers in STEM.
Her presence in the construction industry has itself become part of her message.
At a 2026 STEM information event for schoolgirls, University of Applied Sciences Technikum Wien highlighted Atak as a role model and noted that she manages around 100 men on construction sites.
In an interview with Anadolu Agency, Atak spoke about the importance of making technical professions more accessible to women and young people.
The agency reported that she sees her professional career and voluntary work as complementary rather than separate pursuits.
For Atak, representation is not simply about being visible. It is about showing young women that professions in construction, engineering and technology are open to them — including Muslim women who may rarely see themselves represented in such workplaces.
The broader challenge is significant. Engineering and construction remain heavily male-dominated sectors across Europe, while women and young people from migrant backgrounds can face additional barriers in accessing technical education and professional networks.
Atak’s approach is therefore as much about changing expectations as encouraging career choices: putting a Muslim woman in a hard hat on a construction site, and then bringing her story into classrooms where the next generation is deciding what kind of future it can imagine.
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