{"id":263461,"date":"2026-06-02T13:21:16","date_gmt":"2026-06-02T11:21:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cintecx.uvigo.es\/?p=263461"},"modified":"2026-07-02T13:21:35","modified_gmt":"2026-07-02T11:21:35","slug":"eduardo-suarez-porto-la-flexibilidad-es-uno-de-los-ejes-esenciales-para-fomentar-la-igualdad","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cintecx.uvigo.es\/en\/eduardo-suarez-porto-la-flexibilidad-es-uno-de-los-ejes-esenciales-para-fomentar-la-igualdad\/","title":{"rendered":"Eduardo Su\u00e1rez Porto: \u00abFlexibility Is One of the Essential Pillars for Promoting Equality\u00bb"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Centre for Research in Technologies, Energy and Industrial Processes (CINTECX) dedicates the month of June to Eduardo Su\u00e1rez Porto, a researcher in the Energy Technologies Group (GTE), who is featured in its illustrated calendar<\/a> and is the latest voice in the <\/span>CINTECX Open Camera for Women and Men in STEM<\/em><\/a> initiative.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Su\u00e1rez Porto works in the field of fluid simulation, a research area that he has applied to sectors as diverse as the automotive industry, biomedicine, and the aerodynamics of high-speed trains. \u201cI started in the industrial sector and have gradually moved into new fields, but always within simulation,\u201d he explains.<\/p>\n

His entry into research was not driven by an early vocation. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t something I was looking for. I finished my degree, a grant came up, and before you know it, you find yourself on the research career path,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

In contrast, he was certain that he wanted to start a family. He admits that this decision completely transformed the way he worked. \u201cBefore having children, my schedule ran from eight in the morning until nine at night. Afterwards, everything changes: you have to reorganize yourself and manage your time very carefully,\u201d he states.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Work-Life Balance and Flexibility: A Race Against Time<\/p>\n

Far from viewing work-life balance as a sacrifice, Su\u00e1rez Porto proposes a different perspective: \u201cThe question is not whether your personal life harms your professional career, but the other way around.\u201d In his case, he argues that prioritizing family is a conscious decision. \u201cIf my professional goals are delayed by one or two years because of having children, that is perfectly fine with me,\u201d he says.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Daily organization is crucial. \u201cMy personal and professional lives are completely intertwined,\u201d he explains. \u201cI need to plan almost hour by hour; otherwise, everything falls out of place.\u201d His schedule combines teaching duties, research projects, and family commitments, even color-coded to distinguish essential tasks from flexible ones.<\/p>\n

As the father of two children, he highlights that flexible working hours have been essential in allowing him to balance both spheres. \u201cI can adapt my working day: if I need to leave earlier one day, I make up the time at night or over the weekend,\u201d he explains. However, this advantage is not always available in other professional settings. \u201cIn my case, being able to make that arrangement has been fundamental.\u201d<\/p>\n

The researcher also acknowledges that work-life balance does not affect men and women equally. \u201cIn my environment, it is clear that women give up more of their professional careers,\u201d he notes. Although the impact on his own scientific output has been limited\u2014\u201cthere is only one year without publications, which coincides with the birth of my daughter\u201d\u2014he admits that many female researchers face an \u201cenormous additional effort\u201d to avoid falling behind.<\/p>\n

In this context, he values the measures promoted in recent years by the University of Vigo, although he believes they still need to be consolidated and expanded. Among his proposals are greater flexibility, services such as childcare facilities on campus, and reducing activities scheduled in the afternoon. \u201cAvoiding afternoon meetings or concentrating the working day into a more European timetable would help a great deal,\u201d he maintains.<\/p>\n

As a final message, Su\u00e1rez Porto stresses the importance of continuing to advance work-life balance measures within the scientific system. \u201cAny measure in this direction is welcome,\u201d he concludes. \u201cFlexibility is key and, moreover, it benefits both men and women and contributes to greater equality in research careers.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The protagonist of CINTECX\u2019s illustrated calendar for the month of May also took part in the Open Camera for Women and Men in STEM initiative.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":263453,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[93],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-263461","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-duvi-en"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cintecx.uvigo.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/263461","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cintecx.uvigo.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cintecx.uvigo.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cintecx.uvigo.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cintecx.uvigo.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=263461"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/cintecx.uvigo.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/263461\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":264212,"href":"https:\/\/cintecx.uvigo.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/263461\/revisions\/264212"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cintecx.uvigo.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/263453"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cintecx.uvigo.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=263461"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cintecx.uvigo.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=263461"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cintecx.uvigo.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=263461"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}