Context
Women make up 11% of the construction workforce and 16.5% of all engineers. This data alongside hearing influential female speakers share their stories at an Employer Advisory Board, were the main factors behind our desire to run this event. In addition, a few students have shared anecdotally with employability advisers about feeling isolated as a female and having difficulty speaking up in male-dominated classrooms. We wanted and raise awareness of the challenges, and also the positive influences and successes of females, in these sectors. Our aims were to expose the student cohorts to this; providing them with real-life stories to help them challenge stereotypes, strive for equality and network with positive role models.
The event was new for 2023 took place during a lunch time in March on the university campus, it was linked to International Women’s Day but held later due to student timetables. The methodology of the event was based on a previous event for a specific non-vocational cohort. The event was a success, thus after liaising with relevant academics, the Employer Partnerships Officer and EDI leads in departments.
Action & approach
The event was led by Careers and Employability, Employer Partnerships team and employability leads from the two academic departments. We divided the event in two with six speakers sharing their career stories and promoted it to students of all genders. Diverse speakers from local SMEs and larger organsiations included:
- An entrepreneur and director of her own construction project management firm
- A chemical engineering graduate orginally from Poland who is from excelling in her career at a local SME
- An electrical engineer from Pakistan who came to the UK as an international student and has since secured sponsorship
- A chartered surveyor from a global business consultancy
- Trustee of a local charity supporting Women in Engineering, Science and Technology, now retired from her career in mechanics and education
We asked the speakers to share openly about their experience as a female in a male dominated industry including utilising their strengths, challenges they have faced and successes they have achieved. They also shared about what they felt can be done to support females entering these industries and advice for current students. For the second half of the event, the speakers, students and connected and networked with one another over drinks and pizza
Impact
The event was attended by 19 students from a range of courses and 10 academic staff members. Attendees included the committee of the newly formed “Womens’ Engineering Student Society” and the “Gamechangers” society for females in sport who were motivated by attending and gained new connections. Feedback was gathered from attendees using the online survey tool Menti, receiving 17 responses. Attendees responded on a scale of 1- 5 how far they agree with statements, the average scores were overwhelmingly positive:
- The speakers were relevant to me and my career interests – 3.8 /5
- The event was informative 4.5/ 5
- The event was inspiring 4.6/ 5
When asked an open question on what they learnt, student comments included:
- “Being a woman in engineering isn’t an asset but a barrier that helps you stand out”
- “I was really confused about how to get a job, but it really helped me to not give up”
- “It was so inspiring and motivating”
- “It motivated me to influence young girls to do what they want”
A You Tube video was created of the speakers, so students unable to attend could benefit. This has currently had over 50 views. The speakers were also extremely positive about the event and keen to participate again in future. We also received positive comments from a number of their employers and the event contributed to their corporate social responsibility aims.
Conclusions & advice
The event will be repeated during the next academic year, and hopefully become an annual occurrence. It will be improved further by having a longer planning period to help raise the profile of the events for students. Our university ethos focuses on Curriculum Integrated Employability so we aim for key messages reach a wider audience in future. We will do this by inviting relevant speakers into curriculum sessions, using photos and quotes from the event in curriculum and in the departmental buildings and continuing to circulate the video.
We will continue to share advice from speakers with students including:
- “There are stereotypes but its up to us to break them!”
- “As a female engineer I found I’ve only been faced with kindness in the workplace… It’s an opportunity to prove we can do anything we want to do!”
- “As a company director, I do have imposter syndrome, but I have to tell myself I’ve worked hard to get to where I am. Speak a little louder”
The feedback from event will also form part of a presentation at the national AGCAS conference, allowing the good practice to be shared as widely as possible. Student Societies benefitted from attending so advisers will continue to encourage and support these groups.
