International Women in Engineering Day 2018

International Women in Engineering Day (INWED) was set up on 23rd June 2014 by the Women’s Engineering Society (WES) to celebrate its 95th anniversary and to focus attention on the great opportunities for women in engineering. The day is under UNESCO patronage.

International Women in Engineering Day 2018 took place on Saturday 23rd June. The theme was 'Raising The Bar', and the day was dedicated to raising the profile and celebrating the “outstanding” achievements of female engineers throughout the world.

BSRIA recognised INWED 2018 in an attempt to promote the subject to students in schools and universities and encourage more women into engineering. Engineering continues to be a male-dominated profession with just 13 per cent of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) workers being women, and the UK having the lowest percentage of female engineers in Europe.

BSRIA called on the collected construction industry to help “ignite the passion” of the next generation of scientists and engineers. BSRIA’s INSPIRE project running throughout 2018 includes a series of events to inspire and engage the workforce of tomorrow with what the engineering industry has to offer. INSPIRE is based around the STEM subjects.

Julia Evans, Chief Executive, BSRIA, said:

“BSRIA is very supportive of women going into engineering and proud to be employing many female engineers itself who are flourishing.

“This year’s theme is ‘Raising the Bar’ and, indeed, the engineering bar does need to be raised. Clearly, currently not enough is being done to attract women into the industry. BSRIA calls on the collective industry to change the tide on this troubling trend.

“It is worrying that girls as young as five start defining what they can do and often rule things out due to gender. And further along the timeline – young women’s and their parents’ mind-sets need to change to recognise that engineering offers a wide range of exciting opportunities and career development. Engineers and scientists touch every part of life.

“History has shown time and time again that those who study science arguably make the largest impact to the world. Incredible minds provide us with incredible ideas we once might have thought of as unbelievable but are now rooted in our society. Engineers help make the future a reality.”

--BSRIA