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  • Author Author: alana_b86
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Celebrating women in engineering

alana_b86

I found out this week that Saturday 23rd June is International Women in Engineering Day.

 

I only see one side of engineering (working in Marketing) which is quite a blinkered view, so I thought I would catch up with our resident female engineer and ask her a few questions about why she chose this as a career.

 

Meet Courtney Kennedy - Technology Solutions Marketing Manager for Farnell element14

 

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Q. When did you know you wanted to be an engineer?

 

  1. I’ve always been interested in how things work and I also have a creative side, so I enjoy ‘making’ things and solving problems. That’s basically what engineering is, so for me deciding to get into engineering in general wasn’t difficult at all. I was also lucky enough to have had a huge amount of support from my family, which helped a lot! My Dad was my mentor. He encouraged me to learn and understand all I could about what it meant to be an engineer before I even applied. This gave me confidence I needed to make my decision, as well as to follow through while I was in university.

 

Q. What made you choose electronics?

 

  1. I decided to go into electronics engineering mainly because I felt this was a field that was and would continue to be relevant in a number of areas of technology.

 

Q. How have you found working in engineering?

 

  1. My experiences within the engineering field have overall been good ones. Engineering has opened up a number of doors in regards to my career. Being technically minded and having a background in electronics allows me to venture into a number of different fields and continually add to a skill set that is becoming increasingly well-rounded. Becoming an engineer, for me, never meant that I was going to be doing the same job day in and day out. Instead I saw it as an introduction into a career that would be continually changing and growing as I was, and still am.  Saying that, I have definitely come across challenges with being a female in this field. Unfortunately some people have stereotypes, but women can do anything men can. It’s about having confidence and not changing who you are to fit in. When we can learn to accept each other’s differences we can better focus on working together to bring new innovations to life.

 

Want to find out more about International Women in Engineering Day? Click here.

  • The lack of more visible female role models is definitely an issue I would say. Which leads to young females not able to see themselves in engineering position in future.

    The fixed gender roles in our society adds on top it.

    This is an onion issue with many layers which needs to peeled away to be solved. 

     

    I can only say from experience but the problem and the solution are both complex here.

     

    Its good to see the shift is in right path.

  • We tend to see this a lot ... a lack of woman in Engineering.

     

    I wonder how many are following in their mothers footsteps?, and more importantly, how many would suggest it to their daughters as a career.?

     

    When we visit schools and do electronics, some are very good (same as the males) but they tend to shine when it comes to the software.

    It could be the age group, or it could be the males and their peers tending to distract or perhaps encourage less focus on the actual task.

     

    Sadly the numbers are low, and there seems to be no reason that I can see form working alongside female technicians/engineers.

     

    Mark

  • Very well written. Some glass ceilings are yet to be broken for all women across the world.

     

    And we are getting there slowly and steadily.

     

    Cheers