International Women in Engineering Day (INWED) takes place every year on 23 June. It celebrates the achievements of women in engineering and encourages more girls and young women to think about careers in the field. Organised by the Women’s Engineering Society, this year’s theme is “Together We Engineer,” which shows how diversity, teamwork and inclusion help drive innovation in the industry. 

To celebrate INWED, this year, we spoke to someone at the very beginning of her engineering journey. 

Jemima is a Year 10 student from West Cumbria who recently spent a week at Eadon for work experience and gained a firsthand look at the career she hopes to pursue. 

“I’ve always wanted to do engineering,” she said. “I like maths, I like other STEM subjects and it’s always just been really interesting to me.” 

Before coming to Eadon, Jemima thought of engineering as just “building stuff.” After a few days on her placement, she saw that it involves much more. 

“The biggest surprise was the variety,” she explained. “I didn’t realise how many different careers and opportunities there are within engineering.” 

During her placement, Jemima worked on a real design challenge. She created and 3D-printed a part for one of Eadon’s projects. This gave her hands-on experience with the creativity and problem-solving that are part of engineering every day. 

Although engineering is strongly promoted in her area through organisations such as Sellafield Ltd and BAE Systems, Jemima thinks many girls are still put off from considering it as a career. 

“I think a lot of young girls aren’t interested in engineering because it’s so male-dominated and that puts them off,” she said. 

She believes the main challenge is not the work itself, but how people view it. Jemima says that if more women in engineering were visible, more girls might see it as a career they could choose. 

Before her placement, she only knew one female engineer. Seeing real women working in the industry has made her feel even more sure that engineering is a career for everyone. 

“It’s made it feel a lot more real,” she said. “I don’t really see a difference between male and female engineers.” 

​For her, the mix of creativity, new ideas, and problem-solving makes it an exciting career choice. 

She also highlighted a concern shared by many young people today: the impact of artificial intelligence on future careers. “The ability to not be taken over by AI is probably a big one,” she said. “A lot of people just want a career that they enjoy and that they’re good at – but it needs to be future-proof.” 

“My work experience has encouraged me to pursue it because I’ve seen the possibilities and the variety of different careers and sectors you can work in.” 

​And what advice would she give to other girls considering a career in the industry? 

“Look into it! Whether that’s doing work experience like I’ve done or talking to someone who’s an engineer, definitely do some research.” 

To find out more about International Women in Engineering Day, visit: https://www.inwed.org.uk