Female engineers at Cobham myth-bust and give students who are considering engineering some advice
Marlow, UK - National Women in Engineering Day (NWED) was
celebrated by Cobham's engineers across the company today, as the
Women's Engineering Society marked the important contribution made
by women to Engineering.
Cobham, with its long history of supporting diversity in the
workplace, encourages female engineers to join the sector and
recognises the valuable contribution they make.
Claire Johnson, Development Engineering Manager at Cobham
Mission Systems who studied Mechanical Engineering and is a member
of the Women's Engineering Society (WES) recalls that her healthy
interest in engineering started when she was a child. "I was always
interested in cars and how things are made; how they work and why
they work that way. I also loved any kind of problem solving
and found the mechanical side of physics, such as the laws of
motion, really interesting."
Reflecting on the experience of women in the engineering sector,
Claire myth-busts some of the perceptions younger students may
have. "The Aerospace sector is great to work in as a woman. The
products are interesting and the projects are really challenging -
there are plenty of opportunities! As with any workplace, at
times you do meet people with different opinions and perspectives,
but when you encounter them you work harder, learn more and become
a better engineer for it."
Tuesday Lewis, Deputy Engineering Manager at Cobham Mission
Systems, who also studied Mechanical Engineering at the University
of West of England (UWE), feels the possibilities for engineers are
endless. "Engineering is such a huge field; there will be
something, somewhere that students considering the sector will find
interesting" said Tuesday. "From Medical Engineering to Marine, or
Aerospace, or Automotive, or even Sustainability and
Infrastructure, engineering really does underpin the future of
everything we do."
"I have been lucky enough to work with some brilliant women
engineers, who are smart, articulate, know their own mind and bring
a different perspective; I'd love to work with more as I believe we
could help grow the engineering sector considerably by changing
'how' we do things."
Ashleigh Baker, who joined Cobham as an Engineering Apprentice,
is currently studying a Master's degree in Engineering Manufacture
and Management and also feels there are great opportunities
available for women. "Before I started studying engineering, I was
warned that I would be a minority as a woman" said Ashleigh. "I
heard stories of women being treated differently within the sector.
I ignored this and started studying engineering anyway. I am really
glad I did because I have never experienced any bias and have been
treated as an equal by my peers and my work has always been
respected. Women think and work in a different way to men, which is
really important when coming to the right conclusion within a
business and project."
So why should women join Engineering?
"In my experience, many women in engineering have one thing in
common - our versatility" says Claire. "We can cater our
personality and the way we manage situations or tackle problems
dependent on the situation we are in. This, in my opinion, is
invaluable in engineering; I have seen so much resilience in the
female engineers I have met."
Drawing upon the contribution women can make to the sector,
Tuesday adds "with a shortage of students studying engineering in
the UK, we are starting to struggle to support the world class
engineering we have here now. We need to encourage all students to
consider the merits of a career in engineering."
Ashleigh would also like the image of what 'an engineer' is to
be updated. "We need more women within the sector to change the
perception of engineering being a dirty, manual, traditional
occupation just for men."
For more information on careers at Cobham, please visit www.cobham.com/careers
-ends-
About Cobham
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Cobham is a leading global technology and services innovator,
respected for providing solutions to the most challenging problems,
from deep space to the depths of the ocean.
Enquiries
Cobham plc
Lydia Santis
External Communications
Lydia.santis@cobham.com
+44 7702 140 809
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