Celebrating International Women’s Day: the road to engineering equality

GD: One of the first things people ask me when they find out I work in engineering is, ‘how do you find working with so many men?’ It seems an obvious stereotype and it is certainly one of the widely accepted male-dominated industries, making it even more important to foster a workplace that promotes women and champions equality.

Having recently finished my level 4 and 5 apprenticeship in engineering with Saab UK, now positioned within Saab Seaeye working on the integration team, knowing I’m working in a company that holds values of fairness, inclusivity and equality is extremely important to me.

Compared to many of my peers, my journey into joining the world of engineering has been relatively smooth thanks to Saab UK’s apprenticeship scheme. During my Level 3 BTEC in Engineering, I met Saab Seaeye’s early careers coordinator at our project day – an event where students present projects on a topic of their choice.

Saab Seaeye’s coordinator invited me to visit their site in an informal interview process which allowed me to see if the job would suit me, and vice versa. A key player in my decision-making process was seeing how the Saab Group embedded diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) within everyday processes and tasks. The company’s diversity and inclusion strategy really stood out to me amongst my career options, leading me to believe Saab’s UK workplace environment was one which could allow me to really stand out and thrive.

One of my proudest achievements was choosing to work in the integration team, where Saab Seaeye builds the vehicles that we make; I work with key remotely operated underwater vehicles (ROVs), including the Seaeye falcons. It’s a different route than generally taken by women in the engineering industry as it involves more manufacturing and building, rather than designing etc. I was the first woman in the integration department at Saab Seaeye, making it a significant DE&I milestone both for me and the business as well.

DE&I is an inarguably important consideration for all companies which ought to be pushed more across the UK in general; the Saab Group is committed to prioritising equality and creating a comfortable working environment, not just for the people who need it, but everyone in the business. That being said, there are many female engineers across the industry who are facing barriers at multiple levels; imposter syndrome, self-doubt and facing stereotypes and ingrained biases are some of the few I regularly hear and feel myself.

I’ve seen first-hand how debilitating some of these barriers can impact female engineers, particularly as many of them aren’t immediately noticeable and can undermine confidence and sense of belonging in a field where women are already in the minority. For example, if I was at a different company, there is a high likelihood that I would have been pushed more to the kind of engineering that’s desk bound given unconscious biases which stereotypically place women in the industry as ‘behind-the-scenes’ engineers.

Many women in engineering may also feel like they can’t go down the manufacturing route, for example at Saab Seaeye, the large size of the vehicles we build may be considered a more physical barrier as engineers need to be able to move heavy equipment and the like.

Having a supportive and encouraging team is crucial to helping overcome constraints such as the above. While at Saab UK, I have occasionally struggled with the more physical aspects of the job, but my team are always happy to step in when needed so I’m not hurting myself etc., meaning I’m not confined by barriers, such as strength, to be able to add value to my team.

Nevertheless, there are also opportunities that come with being a woman in a male-dominated field that can be seized upon to further growth and advancement. Being the only female on my team, I sometimes think a bit differently to the men, allowing an alternative perspective to tasks such as problem solving and lateral thinking. So, a lot of the time when we have ‘toolbox talks’ before we do anything that is out of the ordinary, I bring a slightly different viewpoint to approaching a task which can regularly benefit team collaboration.

Having good female role models in engineering is also really important for inspiring and empowering the next generation of women in the field. There is definitely a shortage of female role models in most STEM fields, but they serve a really important purpose in shattering stereotypes and overcoming barriers such as imposter syndrome. Female role models are also so important for offering informed advice on what it’s truly like to be a woman in the field and encourage women to pursue careers in engineering.

As cliché as it sounds, I think my strongest female role model is my mother. She is a dental technician, so is working in another high-pressured work environment, and has really excelled in her field. She has always been an encouragement in my life and seeing how she’s thrived in her space has really paralleled my own journey in certain ways. Her inspiration is a testament to how important having female role models is; my choice, however, partly points out the gaping hole in strong female STEM role models – a gap which I am hoping will be filled in the next few years.

If I was talking to young women who are looking to enter a STEM career, be that engineering or another field, I would say that the most important thing to remember is that you really can do it. Most women in our space always have a fear of not actually being good enough, leading to invisible barriers weighing down upon them. Continuing to push is so important, because there are always going to be those people who doubt what you can do; it is key to make sure you are surrounded by people who are going to support you and help you push through those barriers. Joining a workplace, such as Saab UK, who are willing to bolster you, is of particular importance – a good support system is invaluable.

It’s easy to sit back and write about the importance of DE&I in engineering and my journey within Saab UK, but actively tackling these challenges is much more important, and definitely more conducive to women’s success in the wider industry. By making certain the general engineering sector is promoting equality and championing women, the industry will attract greater talent and, more importantly, ensure that everyone working within it feels accepted.