To celebrate International Women in Engineering Day, Engineers Ireland's Women in Engineering Group focused the theme of the conference on ‘Enhanced by Engineering'.
The event sought to empower, inspire, and celebrate women in engineering with notable speakers including Linda Doyle, Provost of Trinity College, Dublin; Tiffany Quinn, Founder of Generate Leads; and Susan Cormican, Group Director at Ethos Engineering.
The event was delivered with the support of Arcadis, Jones Engineering, ADCO, AECOM, Atkins, CS Consulting, Jacobs, and Tritech.
According to a recent study, carried out by Ipsos B&A on behalf of Engineers Ireland, 39% of women say they do not view engineering as a suitable career, compared to just 29% of men. Similarly, over a third of women respondents said they would not consider the profession if starting a career or pursuing a career change.
At the recent Engineers Ireland STEM Opportunities’ Leaders Forum, held in Dublin and supported by global healthcare technology company Medtronic, research was presented demonstrating the different expectations for attainment our society tends to place on boys and girls in school mathematics.
Damien Owens, Director General at Engineers Ireland said: “Research suggests that many women still do not consider engineering as a career suitable for them. While we have much work to do to change this perception, events like today’s conference do an excellent job in highlighting the important role women play within our profession and stand as role models who can encourage better gender equality within engineering.”
Colette O’Shea, Chair of the Engineers Ireland’s Women in Engineering Committee commented: “It is important to celebrate International Women in Engineering Day and the amazing network of women working in engineering and engineering related fields. We want to create connections and build a community to help change the face of the industry for future generations.”
