Lisette van Wylick, director of Van Wylick Wegdek-reflectors BV

The infrastructure sector is still too much seen as a man's world. Nothing could be further from the truth. More and more women are finding jobs and a place in the world of civil engineering. And we are happy to introduce them to you in detail. In each edition of GWW/Bouwmat, we let a woman from the sector talk about her job and what makes it so great. In this edition, we give the floor to Lisette van Wylick, director of Van Wylick Wegdek-reflectoren BV.

Lisette never imagined during her studies in Organization Studies at VU University in Amsterdam that she would eventually succeed her father in the family business. "After my studies, I started working at a non-profit organization and worked in the department that focused on partnerships with companies and corporate social responsibility. At the same time, I earned a second master's degree in International Development Studies. My perception was always that it would take several years before I could secure a job with this type of organization. So this went very smoothly. Yet I found out pretty quickly that working at such a large organization was not quite my cup of tea. I was just a radar in a very large system. At the time, my father was looking for someone to provide support in the office and jokingly said "will you come work with me? Even though it wasn't meant entirely seriously, it stirred something in me."

Father Chris, however, did not go overnight. "He first paired me with an outside consultant to investigate whether a job at Van Wylick was really for me," says Lisette. "And that soon turned out to be the case. What was decisive for me is that I am not a radar in a very large system, but that I can proactively mean something for the company in all sorts of areas. Moreover, from my intrinsic motivation for sustainability, I can also fully identify with the product we market. Our sustainable glass bulb reflectors not only increase traffic safety, but also ensure that public lighting can be dimmed in very many places." Thus Lisette joined Van Wylick in 2014. "In the beginning, I mainly dealt with administration, but my father has always given me room to develop myself and take on more and more tasks. And I have gratefully taken advantage of that." 

Since January 1, Lisette has officially taken over from her father as director of Van Wylick Road Reflectors. "By the way, my father still remains active in the background, as an advisor, but mainly as a technician in the workshop. That's where his passion lies." As with many infrastructure companies, women are also in the minority at Van Wylick. Lisette can understand that. "It's not immediately a sector you think of as a woman when you're working on an education or study choice. In fact, it didn't even occur to me, despite the fact that my father worked in the infrastructure sector. Still, it really is a very exciting industry to work in. There is a lot of innovation and a lot happening in the field of sustainability. The sector is definitely on the move." 

And that includes Lisette, who doesn't hide her ambitions. "We are now mainly active on N roads, but there is still much to be gained in terms of road safety and sustainability on national roads. We are in talks with the Department of Public Works to get glass bulb reflectors better secured in regulations. Glass bulb reflectors that contribute to safer highways has therefore become a bit my mission. We also see opportunities outside the Dutch market, because we get requests from all corners of the world. Finally, we are taking steps to make our business operations completely sustainable in the future." So plenty of ambitions.