“I don’t have a starry-eyed view of the world”

Suzanne Thoma’s ascent to the summit of BKW, Switzerland’s third-largest energy company, is a story of both overcoming obstacles and an enduring sense of belief. Her upbringing in the 1970s took place in Canton Zug, in a part of central Switzerland that was holding fast to the societal conventions preventing women from straying far beyond a life of domesticity. The day on which her older sister’s teacher phoned the girls’ mother is etched onto her memory.  Her sister had passed the examination to get into grammar school – but, as he put it, “you don’t need qualifications to peel potatoes”. Even back then, Thoma recognised the outrageousness of idle words like these. The confirmation in her eyes that women could make something of themselves came in 1979, when Margaret Thatcher was elected prime minister of the United Kingdom. It marked a watershed event for Thoma, plus a welcome insight into the future she could have: Thatcher was a European and, instead of coming from a royal dynasty, was a member of the middle classes – just like Thoma.

The search for “Bold New Horizons”

Thoma expressed an early interest in politics, economics and the business world. Then the 1980s dawned, a golden era for market liberalisation and greater entrepreneurial freedom: “Back then, I could sense that the most important changes in society stemmed from the economy.” Given her insights, it is fair to ask why she chose not to follow up her Matura university entrance qualification with studies in economics at an institute like the University of St. Gallen – considered by many to be the key to a career in business. “I don’t really think that’s a big deal,” says Thoma. “Just take a look at the management boards of Swiss companies. A huge number appoint ETH graduates.” At that time, however, her reasons for pursuing engineering studies were different. A teacher at her grammar school had sparked Thoma’s interest in chemistry – and her father, an ETHeducated physicist, was harbouring a desire for his daughter to go and study a “proper” subject. For him, this meant attending ETH. When she ultimately got hold of the university’s prospectus, bearing the German title “Kühne Dimensionen” – “Bold New Horizons” – she knew she was where she belonged. Thoma remembers the first two years of her chemical engineering degree as a time of tribulations: “Unfortunately, I was a bit late in realising that I wasn’t at the top of the class any more, like I had been at school.” She saw the light after the first semester, recognising that good results were only going to come if she genuinely dedicated herself to the course – despite the fact that, unlike her all-male cohorts, she didn’t see herself as a chemistry geek. Thoma persisted in spite of patronising remarks from professors and a lack of solidarity in her class: “This period really shaped me. It was crucial in setting me on my career path. Every career presents difficult situations where it’s worth sticking things out.” This is a characteristic which she feels is sadly lacking in today’s Generation Y – with one notable exception, as she emphasises: At BKW, we readily appoint ETH graduates even if they have had to battle through their studies with only average marks.” Thoma opted for a doctorate after her course of studies, despite a lack of academic ambition. “I wanted to work in a major company – and in the world of chemistry at that time, you were nothing without ‘Dr’ in front of your name.” Over three years, she conducted research into improving mixing systems in the context of scaling up production reactors. In addition to her practical work on containers that in some cases measured a cubic metre, she attended a two-year supplementary educational course in economics.