Today is International Women in Engineering Day, so it is the ideal opportunity to celebrate the female engineers in SL Controls and the fantastic contribution they make to the company. We have women engineers working in a range of roles across all parts of the business.
Days like International Women in Engineering Day also bring into sharp focus the unequal numbers of women working in our industry. We are not immune to this here at SL Controls. Despite proactively encouraging women to apply for the vacancies we advertise, our workforce remains male-dominated.
We have an ongoing commitment to play our part in changing this situation across the entire engineering sector. To that end, we asked some of our women engineers what advice they would give to girls and young women thinking about their future careers.
Blessing Nwachukwu, Systems Engineer:
“Engineering is ever evolving and allows for creativity and innovation. It is not boring but interesting with unique digital technologies to work with. Don’t shy away from it. Go for it, be prepared for it, and the sky will be your starting point.”
Patricia Cowley, Validation Engineer:
“I’d like young women to know that their personalities and strengths are required and valued by the best engineering companies. Diverse experiences and backgrounds really do promote innovation.”
Fiona Chung, Senior Validation Engineer:
“My advice to all women thinking about engineering or their careers in general is not to listen to any stigma surrounding the profession and have a vision for your career. You don’t need a detailed plan and you don’t need to fear failure as careers are usually not linear anyway. Your career is like visiting a foreign country. You can have an itinerary but you’re open to things that happen along the way.”
Jisa Varghese, Systems Engineer
“My advice for young girls interested in engineering is to have a clear vision and just run with it. There will be lots of noise, with people trying to put the fire out in you and burdening you with societal norms. Always remember that all the people you see in engineering now once felt like how you feel today – not sure and confused. Consistency and determination can go a long way and that is not bound to any gender, and neither is a technical career. As long as you find engineering and technology interesting and are ready to stay updated, it’s all a piece of cake. All the best to my sisters.”
Advice From Those Who Know
Shauna Ryan is SL Controls Director of People and Culture: “We ran a poll on LinkedIn earlier this year to get the industry’s views on how to get more girls and young women interested in pursuing a career in engineering. The most popular responses involved activities in primary and secondary school, including STEM lessons and promoting engineering as a career.
“I think this really speaks to the need for girls to have engineering role models from a young age – role models to look up to, to follow, and to seek advice. The female engineers on the SL Controls team are the perfect role models for the women engineers of the future, and the advice they have given here on International Women in Engineering Day is fantastic to see.”
