Institution news
Helena and Heather want people from all backgrounds, whatever their gender or ethnic origins, to believe they can be an engineer and shape the future. What motivates them to aspire to positions of leadership is recognising the importance of visible role models.
“It helps the women coming through behind me if I step forward to take on an influential role. Being on the Trustee Board means that we can start to be more visible in a position that people aspire to," said Heather.
As a Trustee, Heather is working hard to develop an Institution that is relevant to all, from practising engineers to those who are retired and those who haven’t yet considered engineering as a career. She says that all Institution members, but particularly women, need to stand up and be counted:
“We should all recognise our career greatness. We have numerous Institution awards: apply for them and be recognised for what you have achieved in your career! Stand for groups, committees, Council, Trustee Board – let’s make our voices heard. People need to be supported and included to achieve that. It’s about us all working together.”
For Helena, who works at AECOM, taking the lead from multinationals can be a good way to emulate best practice and help make institutions and smaller companies more inclusive. Women-only and targeted mentoring schemes are among the strategies her company uses, which again capitalise on the power of role models.
At Atkins, where Heather works, a range of approaches encourages individuals to network, to provide peer support, and be open to change. Heather acknowledges that change isn’t immediate, but setting up mechanisms to increase inclusion will start to make a difference – if you believe in them. She explained:
“It’s about making sure that you’re taking those opportunities to be ‘present’ and make your contribution. In many cases this can give an individual the skills and awareness which will enable them to aspire to a role that they hadn’t previously thought they could do.”
They advocate an increase in joined-up approaches across professional engineering institutions and other organisations to champion change and promote engineering. Both applaud the momentum behind the STEM Ambassador programme and agree that more work is needed to improve careers advice for pupils, teachers and parents alike, to widen the pool of potential engineers.
“A change in the curriculum to feature engineering alongside science would ensure that every primary child across the country would have a baseline understanding," explained Heather. "If every school had just one visit from an engineer a year it would start to make a difference.”
According to Helena, more could be done to value and retain engineers after a career break, something she says the Institution will shine a light on next year.
“These are the skilled, experienced engineers, the role models, and the leaders of tomorrow and we often just let them walk out of the industry. If we can get them back working again within the profession, it will help build a diverse pipeline of engineers.”
She believes that diversity and inclusion should be at the core of everything we do:
“We have to engage people from all different backgrounds and let them know how exciting and attainable a career in engineering is. And to do that, we all need to have more belief in ourselves.”
Heather summed up what diversity means to her: “It is about showing respect for everyone’s different qualities. It doesn’t matter what race, colour, gender or country someone belongs to, it’s how they add to the story or the solution.”
Read the full interview with Helena Rivers and Heather Clarke.