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Today (23rd June), is International Women in Engineering Day! International Women in Engineering Day, brought to you by the Women’s Engineering Society (WES) is celebrating its 9th year and figures as of June 2021 show that 16.5% of engineers are women.
INWED gives women engineers around the world a profile when they are still hugely under-represented in their professions.
At Automated Intelligence, we spoke to Chelsea and Mia from our engineering team to find out why they like working in the industry and what advice they’d give to young women thinking about a career in engineering.
“It’s great to work as part of the Engineering team, I get to work with highly skilled individuals daily, who I learn a lot from. I started working within the team as QA and have since moved into a Product Owner role. I really enjoy working with a bunch of people who care about what they are working on and a have want to come up with the best solutions to the problems our customers have, there is great teamwork within our team.
It’s brilliant to see more women choosing a career in the IT industry. Having more women in management and C level roles is so encouraging, especially in an industry that has been known in the past to be very male dominated. I would really encourage others to think about a job in the IT industry, there is such a diverse number of roles out there to choose from and many more ways to now get into the industry without going through university.”
Chelsea McMullan, Product Owner, Automated Intelligence
“I’ve just started working as a QA Apprentice Engineer, and I’m absolutely loving it! I came to Automated Intelligence with very little previous background in IT, but AI has been fantastic at training me, and I will be working alongside the Belfast Met to gain my qualification. More and more companies are offering Apprenticeships now, which is a great way to get into Software Engineering for anyone wanting to change careers. The industry is growing fast, so there’s always a high demand for jobs.
Also, I think that working from home has made Engineering more accessible for women – it certainly has for me. I was a stay-at-home mum, looking to get back to work, but not sure how I’d transition into full time work. Working from home has given me 2 1/2 hours every day that I would have lost in commuting alone, which translates to more time with my family. I would say to any woman who is technically inclined, that Engineering is a fantastic career to get into, especially as we move into a more advanced technological future.”
Maria (Mia) Dunniece, QA Apprentice Engineer
