Hyder Consulting is a multi-national design and engineering consultancy renowned for working on some of the world's most iconic buildings and structures. These include Sydney Harbour Bridge, Tower Bridge in London and the world's tallest building, Burj Khalifa, in Dubai.

Instron is a leading provider of testing equipment for the material and structural testing markets.  Instron's products are used to test the mechanical properties and performances of various materials, components and structures in a wide array of environments.  Additionally, Instron offers a broad range of service capabilities, including assistance with laboratory management, calibration expertise and customer training.

BAM Nuttall is focused on providing the highest professional standards in the civil engineering market, with emphasis on building strong, honest and long lasting relationships with satisfied customers. 

WES is pleased to be working with a number of other organisations to collectively address the problem of how to encourage more girls to choose engineering as a career, how to retain more women in the engineering sector, and how to make the case for diversity. At a recent roundtable meeting organised by WISE and sponsored by Atkins, contributors including Babcock, RAF, Institute of Physics, Shell, Halliburton, Prospect, ICE, STEMnet, Intel and RAEng discussed the issues to come up with a way forward.

The IOP is travelling the country over the next few months to answer your questions about physics teacher training. Come and find out how you could receive a £25,000 scholarship and play a vital role in physics education.

Our schools need talented people like you to inspire and encourage pupils to continue studying physics at A-Level and university.

Join us at any of the following events to learn more about a rewarding career in teaching. We'll talk to you about the routes into teaching physics, the funding support available and your career prospects as a teacher:

Train to Teach Roadshows

London - 1 March
Bristol - 8 March
Birmingham - 15 March

More information and registration can be found here. 
 
Insight into Teaching Events

University of Nottingham - 18 February
University of Warwick - 26 February
University of Durham - 5 March
UCL - 12 March
University of Sheffield - 19 March
University of Kent - 26 March

Please e-mail for more information about these events.

£25,000 tax-free teacher training scholarships

Applications for the IOP Teacher Training Scholarships programme are rolling in fast. With only 150 to award we advise anyone thinking of applying for a scholarship to submit their application sooner rather than later. 
The next application deadline is Monday 10 March. 

Visit our website to find out more and apply:

It is an image that is often used in articles describing the activities of female engineers. A woman stands in an industrial environment wearing a hard hat or overalls. But is this an accurate portrayal of the life of a female engineer? Some would challenge this stereotype and argue that many female engineers are working in hi-tech, 21 century environments without a hard hat in sight. Selex ES, a Finmeccanica Company, will be seeking to challenge this stereotype at its forthcoming recruitment event on 14 March, by giving female engineers an opportunity to view their state of the art facilities at Crewe Toll in Edinburgh.  

Statistics confirm that not enough women are choosing careers in science, technology, engineering and maths. In the UK there is a shortage of engineers with a projected need of a further 830,000 engineers, scientists and technologists by the year 2020. According to Engineering UK, only 9% of British engineers are women, which is the lowest percentage in Europe. So what is Selex ES in Edinburgh doing to try to increase its number of female engineers?

Lynda McVay, VP HR Edinburgh said: "We want potential employees to gain an accurate picture of what it means to be an engineer in a challenging, innovative environment." The poster for the forthcoming recruitment event at Crewe Toll shows a woman at the centre of a number of screens in the style of 'Minority Report', reflecting the complex technology produced at the site.  The company has already managed to attract some of the top UK female talent in this field, including Dr Carol Marsh, Electronics International Design Process Lead and President of the Women's Engineering Society. Selex ES is all about excellence in Engineering and gender is not a consideration in this matter." 

WES is looking for a speaker to inspire a group of youngsters about a career in Engineering, at Big Bang Eastern. The event takes place on 8th July 2014 at Duxford.

If you would like to take part or need more information please contact Dawn Bonfield at the WES Office.

Imperial College, London on 19 March 2014.

It's for women in science, engineering, technology, medicine and a wide range of expert and specialist fields, from undergraduate to professor level.
Maggie will be leading the day of interactive training and on-camera practice with award -winning science TV producers Screenhouse.
£225 exc VAT.

  Further information here. or contact Rebecca Webb

 

The Royal Society are targeting people in science, engineering, technology and maths, to provide information regarding experiences of good working practices in recruitment and retention in STEM sectors.

They want to promote and showcase the best examples in recruitment and retention where actions, policies, practices or initiatives have successfully improved the diversity of the scientific workforce; in particular the representation of women, disabled people and those from minority ethnic groups.

If you have any positive personal experiences in this area that you would like to submit to The Royal Society as a good example of how to increase diversity in a scientific workforce, please click here to submit your entry by 28th February 2014. 

The Sixth Report of the Science and Technology  Committee on Women in Scientific Careers came out in January and can be accessed here.

In summary: Many attempts have been made to improve the under-representation of women in STEM. Still only 17 per cent of STEM professors are women. It is astonishing that despite clear imperatives and multiple initiatives, women still remain under-represented at senior levels across every discipline.

There is no single explanation; it is the result of perceptions and biases combined with the impracticalities of combining a career with family.  Scientists often consider themselves to be objective and unbiased, yet studies have shown that scientists are susceptible to the same biases as the rest of the population.  Therefore we have recommended that diversity and equality training should be provided to all STEM undergraduate and postgraduate students. It should also be mandatory for all members of recruitment and promotion panels and line managers.

Early academic STEM careers are characterised by short term contracts, which are a barrier to job security and continuity of employment rights. This career stage coincides with the time when many women are considering starting families, and because women tend to be primary carers, they are more likely than men to end their STEM career at this stage.  We call on the Government to work with the higher education sector to review the academic career structure and increase the number of longer-term positions for post-doctoral researchers. We have found that what benefits women benefits everyone in the STEM workplace.

Emphasis is often placed on inspiring young girls to choose science, which is commendable, but such efforts are wasted if women are subsequently disproportionately disadvantaged in scientific careers compared to men. The Government recognises the importance of gender diversity in STEM, but its efforts appeared to be largely focused on encouraging girls to study STEM, with little focus on enabling them to stay and progress in STEM careers. We were disappointed that BIS spending dedicated to improving diversity in STEM was virtually halved in the 2010 Spending Review and we recommend that the Government should monitor the effects of its policies on cutting and "mainstreaming" diversity funding. 

Build your Career in Construction: 

Mar 11 2014

Location: Edinburgh EH1 1JF
Are you a woman working in the construction sector, or looking for a job in construction? Take a break from your busy schedule to reflect on your career and think about how to progress in the sector.

WiBSE London Confidence Workshops: Maximising your Impact
Mar 26 2014

As part of the Magnificent Women project, we are putting together some Resource Sheets on a series of Magnificent Women, and in the first instance these will focus on women in aviation and aerospace. We are looking for volunteers to write a single A4 page resource on a woman of your choice, such as Amy Johnson, Anne Burns, Tilly Shilling, Helen Sharman, Bonnie Dunbar, Amelia Earhart. A template for the sheet is available. Please contact us to get involved.

The recent Talent2030 National Engineering Competition for Girls was recently judged by a panel including a representative from WES, and as part of our involvement WES agreed to find mentors for the winning teams. If you are interested in becoming a mentor to one of the winners (girls in the age group 11-14 and 15-18) then please keep a look out on the WES website for details of the disciplines we are trying to match the girls to.

This event will be building on the success of last year's 'Women in Engineering Leadership Forum 2013' and a range of successful women leadership events which have been run around the Australasia region. 'Women in Energy Leadership and Communication Excellence Forum 2014' will bring together senior women leaders and engineers from both public and private organisations, consultants as well as academic thought-leaders to share snapshots of results achieved and also remaining challenges in the role of a female engineering leader.

The WES website now has a Featured Blog facility, so if you are a Blog writer and would like your blog to be added to the WES website, please let Dawn Bonfield know.

Membership Subscriptions are due for renewal in April and we will be sending out renewal letters soon.

Last year we increased the cost of membership, if you pay your subscription by direct debit could you ensure that your direct debit instruction is for the new rates.

Find hundreds of jobs in every discipline at The National Engineering & Construction Recruitment Exhibition on 4 & 5 April at the NEC, Birmingham, and meet a wide-range of major employers at the exhibition, who will be seeking new staff for engineering roles in the UK, including Aquaterra Energy, Babcock, Cape, CH2M Hill, Network Rail, Ramboll, Royal Navy, Safran Power and Smartpay.

WES Prizewinner Yasmin Ali will be presenting on the Friday when there will also be a Women in Engineering Networking Lunch.

Exclusive to The National Engineering & Construction Recruitment Exhibition is the Professional Development Hub. Meet with representatives from the Engineering Council and key professional engineering institutions for advice on professional registration and how it can help your career development, as well as the benefits of professional institution membership.

Register now for free entry

The L'Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science programme recognises the achievements and contributions of exceptional females across the globe, by awarding promising scientists with Fellowships to help further their research. To apply for a bursary please see the website. Deadline 14 March 2014.