• Question: Was hard becoming a female engineer as engineering is unfairly seen as a male industry?

    Asked by Thing_2 to Stacey, Niamh, Becky, Alessandra, Dimitrios on 10 Jun 2017. This question was also asked by 756smaj27, 837smaj44, cricket@NY, MK, JeCla, MEBS.
    • Photo: Stacey Marple

      Stacey Marple answered on 10 Jun 2017:

      Hi Thing_2 no it was not hard for me. There were plenty of girls on my degree and in the Royal Air Force 30% of my engineering course were girls. That meant I had a support network and perceptions were different. The best advice I was given was stop comparing myself to other people and to concentrate on my career and being the best I can be.

    • Photo: Rebecca Bennett

      Rebecca Bennett answered on 11 Jun 2017:

      Not for me, but then I guess textiles is not seen as male.
      I’ve been very lucky, but I have worked hard too 🙂

    • Photo: Niamh Ryall

      Niamh Ryall answered on 12 Jun 2017:

      Hi Thing_2
      There are many things that have been hard in my education, but I don’t think being a woman has made it any more hard. I know a lot of women in STEM and there are great training days and things I can go on as a female researcher if I think I need them. To me, it was always nice to be in a mixed environment and STEM is pretty diverse, with people from all backgrounds.

    • Photo: Alessandra Treviso

      Alessandra Treviso answered on 12 Jun 2017:

      Hi Thing_2,

      it was sometimes. There weren’t many girls in my class at university and even now I am often one of the few, if not the only, woman in the room. I never thought that being a woman would make it more difficult though, I studied as hard as the others and got good grades. I don’t think I have ever experienced major discriminations as well.

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