The Institution's involvement in
National Women in Engineering Day activities on 23 June helped to reinforce the message that engineering is a great career choice for women, as well as men, with an exciting future and amazing opportunities.
Transport for London’s 100 Years of Women in Transport programme kicked off the day with a mass photocall and successful Guinness World Record attempt. With more than 150 companies represented, it showcased the vast array of roles that a career in engineering and technology has to offer.
Alyce Bennett, who attended the event on behalf of HS2, said: “It’s really important to support National Women in Engineering Day, as there are so few women engineers. It’s really important that girls realise from a young age that engineering is a great career choice.”
Linda Chan, Structural Engineer, Price & Myers, said: “National Women in Engineering Day is a great opportunity to meet up with other female engineers and raise awareness of engineering as a career choice for girls. In today’s day and age, women can do anything – but there are so few women in the industry. Girls need to realise that engineering is an option.”
Following an opening address from Sir Peter Hendy CBE, Commissioner of Transport for London, the crowd went on to smash the Guinness World Record for ‘most people performing a jumping high five simultaneously’, with a grand total of 864 attendees participating.
A film crew captured the action, which was sponsored by Telent, and it will be used to create a short film which will be made available to industry and used as an engagement piece for schools.
Heather Clarke CEng MIMechE, Principal HSSEQ Engineer, Oil and Gas Europe at Atkins, said: “This is a really positive image of women in engineering. National Women in Engineering Day demonstrates that there is a wide variety of engineering roles available to women – and it’s not all just hammers and spanners.”
Professor Isobel Pollock, former President of the Institution, said: “The event has been a great start to National Women in Engineering Day. It’s wonderful to see such a diverse array of people coming together to celebrate the achievements of women in engineering.”
Dr Helen Meese, the Institution’s Head of Engineering in Society, then headed to Reading to deliver a talk Life as an engineer – overcoming expectations at an event sponsored by AMEC Foster Wheeler. More than 170 people, mainly women, came along to hear about the perceived barriers to women in engineering and how they can be overcome. Helen shared her personal experience and her unique view, having visited many engineering companies across the UK.
“It is important to understand the barriers that women think may exist in an engineering workplace, examine whether they are real issues and discuss options to overcome them. A pragmatic and open approach is necessary to build the number of women who can confidently work in engineering.”
Sarah Haslam, a member of the Institution’s Trustee Board and a Chartered engineer working for Ford, was interviewed by The Times. The article Think engineering is a man’s job? Think again helps challenge stereotypes and show how engineering in the automotive sector is an interesting and rewarding career for women. Sarah is also involved with TIPS and Primary Engineer, among other initiatives.
After an interview for Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour, Philippa Oldham, the Institution’s Head of Transport and Manufacturing, chaired Engineering Women: Are they Returning to Work?
Losing women from the workplace not only means that industry misses out on their skills, but it also loses the links that these women have with their local communities, schools and parents. The seminar, organised by the Women’s Engineering Society, attracted more than 160 delegates.
Philippa is passionate about the subject and said: “All engineering organisations need to look at providing flexible and part time work for all their staff – men and women - if they are to overcome the skills gap. We need role models in every company, so that young engineers feel confident that they will be able to have a work/family balance.”
Philippa ended her day with a celebration of women in motorsport, traditionally a male dominated sector.
She said: “Women are making a real difference to all areas of engineering, and this was a fantastic opportunity to hear from the key women changing the world of motorsport. We heard about the challenges that these engineers faced and conquered both on and off the racetrack, and were inspired by great female engineering talent.”
Eighty-five people, two thirds of whom were female, attended Women in Motorsport Engineering - Beating the competition and 37 people from eight countries logged on to the webinar. A
podcast of the event is available.
Jennie Gow, BBC 5 Live's F1 Presenter/Pit Lane Reporter & Lead Presenter for Formula E chaired the discussion.
Panellists included:
- Leena Gade, Race engineer at Audi Sport and Formula Student Ambassador
- Bernadette Collins, Performance and Strategy Engineer for the Sahara Force India Formula One Team
- Gemma Hatton, Data Engineer, Paras Racing BTCC & Technical Writer for Racecar Engineering Magazine
Gemma said: ”When I was younger I was inspired by others. I think it's important to share your experiences of how you got into the industry. You need to network, attend events and send the right emails to the right people. You also have to back it up with technical knowledge.”
Speaker Rachael Matthews, the Scrutineering Engineer, from Colossus F1, World Champions of F1 in Schools, said: “Explaining F1 in schools and opening people’s eyes to the fact that engineering is not only for boys is so important. I was the only girl in my class to study engineering and I’m so pleased I studied it, it’s such a good career choice.
“The perception of engineering is that as an engineer you’ll be greasy and working in a factory. But engineering is so diverse and there is no perfect system, there are always improvements to be made.”
Philippa added: “National Women in Engineering Day was a great success, it seems to have picked up momentum over the years and it is good to see so much activity in so many different places. We should celebrate how far women have come and support further diversification in the work place.”