The Women’s Engineering Society (WES), which set up NWED two years ago, worked with The Telegraph to publish a list of the top 50 women in engineering, and asked what women in engineering really want to communicate to girls, to help improve the numbers entering the profession.
The Institution's North East Region Tyne and Wear Young Members Panel (YMP) and Chartered Institute of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE) hosted four speakers at an event called ‘Recognising the North East’. Senior female engineers within various sectors shared their experiences, raising the profile and highlighting the achievements of women working within the region. Sarah Davey AMIMechE, a mechanical engineer at Arup, was among the organisers, and reported that 50 people attended.
She said it was a really positive event, and added: “We ended on the thoughts that one day we won’t have to have women in engineering events as it will just be the norm, but until then running these events is really positive to give inspiration, support and role models to men and women alike so we can continue to grow and diversify the field.”
The University of Leeds, in collaboration with the Institution's North Yorkshire YMP and WES, hosted ‘Celebrating Women in Engineering’, an evening of presentations and panel discussions with several leading engineers. They included Professor Ruth Wilcox MIMechE, Director Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering at Leeds; Michelle Flint MIMechE, Associate Director Tata Steel; and Jill Sigournay CEng MIMechE, Lead Engineer from Rotork. The evening event was free to all and included refreshments and networking.
Greater London Region YMP joined up with fellow Professional Engineering Institutions (PEI) to produce two events:
Ask an Engineer was a free lunchtime webinar session, during which around 100 school students across the country, aged 14-16, used social media to chat with four panel members about their lives and accomplishments as working engineers. Aoife Considine, a graduate mechanical engineer at London Underground, was on the panel and praised the webinar format.
She said: “Live streaming is a brilliant medium to show those who otherwise wouldn’t be exposed to engineering the exciting and varied opportunities a career in the industry has to offer.”
However, she felt more events like this are necessary to inspire young women and show that engineering is about creating solutions.
She said: “The students’ questions evidenced how much more our industry needs to promote itself. Many students wanted to know more about the various types of engineering, which highlights the lack of understanding that young people, and indeed the general public, have about engineering.”
Roshni Wijesekera of the GLR YMP, was one of the organisers of the webinar and of The Big Discussion, which was jointly arranged by the Institution and five other PEIs and hosted by the IET. Around 120 people attended.
Among those on the panel were Dawn Bonfield, CEO WES, and Sarah Haslam BEng MSc CEng MIMechE, Powertrain Engineering Manager at Ford Motor Company. The panel, chaired by engineering journalist Antony Oliver, debated issues such as the importance of quotas to improve gender equality in engineering; and how women need to improve their confidence in the workplace. The panel members, senior figures in industry, asked the audience what they would like to see improved or actioned to make engineering a better choice for women.
Roshni said: “The audience expressed a preference for employers to look at promoting and upholding diversity as a whole; and mentoring and reverse mentoring were highlighted as strong vehicles for retaining women in the workforce. The audience also asked for more men to become involved in addressing the gender skills gap, which impacts on the whole profession.”
Women in Science and Engineering (WISE), in partnership with WES, the Institution, Prospect and the TUC, organised a knowledge-sharing session during the afternoon of 23 June, which included speakers from Babcock and TfL. The theme was the impact that personal protective equipment has for women in their workplace, and to what extent producers are moving away from a ‘one size fits all’ approach. The event took place at One Birdcage Walk.
Also, at Institution headquarters, Dr Helen Meese, the Institution's Head of Healthcare, hosted Achieving Personal Best: Women in Sports Technology, an opportunity to learn more about the fast-developing world of elite equipment which supports the achievements of sporting professionals. Speakers included Dr Heather Driscoll, who is currently the President of the International Sports Engineering Association and serves on the editorial board of the Institution's Journal of Sports Engineering and Technology.
Helen said: “NWED is always a great celebration for women in our profession and the sports technology event was no exception. It is a relatively new area in engineering but one many women are choosing to go into, particularly for its multidisciplinary opportunities. We will be releasing a number of films from the event in the coming weeks”.
Read press coverage about National Women in Engineering Day in the media.