• Question: Do you think that being female makes a difference in your career as many engineers nowadays are male and many people assosiate engineering with men?

    Asked by tuckp to Ivanka, Emma on 14 Mar 2012. This question was also asked by meganl56.
    • Photo: Emma Bould

      Emma Bould answered on 13 Mar 2012:

      You are certainly right, there are a lot more men in engineering than there are women….. but I think that is only going to get better! I also see it as an advantage! I think women approach problems differently to men, so sometimes that helps when you are problem solving, you bring different ideas and ways of doing things.

      Being a female engineer does make a difference, although not necesarily in a negative way. Women certainly make as good, if not better engineers – Perhaps that is because I feel like I have to keep up with my male colleagues so it turns into a bit of friendly competition, but I have never felt like I’m treated any differently because I’m female.

      On the whole it’s not very often you are forgotten either! I once wore a bright pink dress to a engineers dinner, just because I had a feeling the whole room would be full of grey suits!
      I was right 🙂

    • Photo: Ivanka Brown

      Ivanka Brown answered on 14 Mar 2012:

      Yes, it makes a difference being female. You naturally stand out of the crowd. This helps your voice get heard and often helps you progress your career if you are good at what you do.

      There are indeed more men than woman in all of the places that I have worked and visited during my engineering career, but I can happily say it has never caused me any problems. Also companies generally celebrate diversity because it generates diverse ideas and it may help them get the edge and beat off the competition. I have actually found that sometimes men behave better when I am around – being more polite, especially on construction sites.

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