National Women in Engineering Day How to Get Involved

Phil Black - PII Editor 01/02/2014

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…raising the profile and celebrating the achievements of women in engineering, and encouraging more girls to consider engineering as a career.

Currently women make up less than 10% of the engineering sector, and with a large skills gap looming, and the additional need for a more diverse workforce, it has never been more important to encourage girls to choose a career in engineering.

If you are a Government Department, Company, School, College, University, Organisation or Individual then get involved by organising your own events on or around this day. And spread the word……

Company or Organisation in the engineering sector:

Organise visits for local school children and parents, and encourage girls to attend
Launch a Women”s Network or arrange a social event for your women engineers
Carry out an equal pay audit in your organisation and be disruptive in your promotion of women engineers
Review your Diversity and Inclusion policies, and put on an Unconscious Bias training session for your staff
Register your women engineers to speak at schools or as STEM Ambassadors (www.wes.org.uk/register)
Publicise your support of women in engineering through the use of female role models
(use the Tomorrow’s Engineers Website for career guidance)

Schools, Colleges, Universities, Scouts, Girl Guides, Girls Brigade or other Group:

Invite a woman engineer to talk to your students (STEM Ambassadors, Inspiring the Future or the WES Register)
Organise an activity or series of activities to encourage girls in engineering (ideas through the British Science Association and at www.wes.org.uk/resources)
Visit a local engineering employer, or invite them to visit you
Launch a competition to encourage innovation, creativity and fun
Review your careers advice and literature to ensure that you are giving the best possible independent advice
Audit your science teaching to ensure that it is gender neutral (see IoP Guidelines)
Organise some training for your science teachers on careers in engineering
Hold a STEM careers event for your students
Make links with the manufacturing industry using the See Inside Manufacturing scheme
Register for an Athena Swan award or go for the next grade

Professional Engineering Institutions:

Advertise this day to your members and encourage them to organise their own events
Carry out a review of your women members, and roadmap your activities to support these, and attract more
Members, Chartered Engineers, Incorporated Engineers, and Fellows
Set up a Women”s Membership Group or Committee, and appoint a Diversity and Inclusion Officer
Organise a Women”s Networking or Mentoring Event on this day
Organise a prestige lecture given by a woman engineer, or pledge to use a diverse mix of conf contributors
Make details of your women members available to schools looking for speakers (with their permission of course)

Individual Women Engineers:

Register to speak at a local school (through Inspiring the Future, WES Register or STEM Ambassadors)
Contact your local school and offer to meet their pupils or become a school governor
Encourage your Company or Organisation to carry out some of the activities above
Tweet about your job #whatengineersdo or in support of NWED #nwed2014
Write a biography for the WES She”s an Engineer feature or blog about your work
Join WES and become a STEM Ambassador

Good luck with your planning, and do keep us informed of what you are doing.

www.wes.org.uk/nwed