Today is International Women in Engineering Day, an annual event to celebrate women working in the field of engineering. It is also an opportunity to encourage more women to consider engineering as a career, as well as encouraging all stakeholders in the industry to do more to achieve gender equality. After all, engineering remains a heavily male-dominated sector, so there is work still to do.
To mark International Women in Engineering Day 2022, we thought we would highlight the experiences and viewpoints of some of our female engineers and employees, the initiatives we have been involved in to encourage the next generation of women to consider engineering as a career, and our commitment to promoting gender equality in the industry.
The Views of Some of the Women on Our Team
Isabel Batista, Validation Engineer
Isabel is originally from Portugal and moved to Ireland to become a Validation Engineer at SL Controls. Here’s what Isabel has to say about working as an engineer:
“We need to think about the project and the problem we need to solve, and we have to study to find a solution. That is the best thing about being an engineer – the strong industry demand for learning. We don’t stand still.”
Read more about Isabel’s views on engineering.
Fiona Chung, Validation Engineer
Fiona Chung knew from a young age that she didn’t want to follow the career paths traditionally laid out for women. She wanted to pursue her passion, and now she is a successful engineer on the SL Controls team. Here’s an example of how Fiona views engineering:
“…engineering to me is full of puzzles and there’s so much satisfaction when you finally get that click. The click of ‘Oh. I understand it, that’s how it works, I’ve solved a puzzle!’ That ‘ah-ha’ feeling is very addictive.”
Read more about what Fiona thinks about working as an engineer.
Shauna Ryan, HR Manager
Shauna Ryan isn’t an engineer, but she is responsible for recruitment at SL Controls. As a result, Shauna has a valuable and unique perspective on the challenges of achieving gender equality in an engineering workforce, as well as the opportunities that exist in the sector for women.
Learn more about Shauna’s experience working in HR for an engineering company.
Commitment to Gender Equality
Gender equality, diversity, and inclusion are core parts of our company strategy and the culture we strive to nurture. We have published a number of articles on these topics recently, including the following:
- Celebrating National Diversity and Inclusion Day 2022
- SL Controls commits to Sustainable Development Goals, including Gender Equality – “Previously, engineering was male-dominated and that was the end of it. That is changing, but it needs to change faster.” – Keith Moran, SL Controls CEO
- Breaking the bias in engineering and the wider world on International Women’s Day 2022
Inspiring the Next Generation of Female Engineers
SL Controls has been involved in an initiative over the past number of months to teach a class of primary school children about the principles of engineering and get them excited and interested in the topic through practical exercises.
Two engineers from the SL Controls team volunteered to teach the children – Fiona Chung and Philip Nicholson. Here are their thoughts after the first lesson, as well as their reflections further into the initiative.