In support of National Women in Engineering Day, AECOM has hosted a number of exciting events in London, St Albans and Croydon to motivate girls in STEM to consider a career in engineering.

The events highlighted issues facing women engineers. Gender diversity in engineering was discussed and various AECOM female engineering role models who've experienced a rewarding career in this sector were profiled. The objective of such events is to continually educate, encourage and inspire talented young women to consider the range of exciting career opportunities available in engineering.

Tomorrow’s Engineers

To attract the widest possible audience, AECOM partnered with Tomorrow’s Engineers and the Construction Youth Trust organisation to seek out female students in years 11 or 12 to take part. Students meet and talk with some of AECOM’s leading women engineers, they learn more about some of the exciting projects available in this sector, and they test their engineering potential through an interactive session.

AECOM’s leading women in engineering

AECOM put forward some of its leading women engineers from a range of levels and sectors to run sessions at events. Speakers have included Helena Rivers, an Associate Director in mechanical engineering at AECOM, Ruth Howlett a Public Health Engineer and Teeba Almunshi, a graduate mechanical engineer.

Helena is keen to stress the importance of events targeting young girls in STEM.

“Too many girls are inadvertently shutting off their access to careers in science and engineering while still at school by dropping key science and maths subjects without realising the consequences. With more information on an engineering career can offer, I am sure we can help build enthusiasm for these subjects. We need more women in engineering. It offers a great, flexible career for women and I believe having women in project teams enables us to achieve better results,” she explains.

Teeba, works as a graduate mechanical engineer on AECOM’s prestigious graduate programme. She shares her experiences.

“I first became interested in engineering at a young age due to being brought up in an environment where engineering was shown to be a fun, intriguing and at times puzzling by my parents. Being exposed to this from an early age allowed me to see the world and tackle problems differently. I believe that what you are exposed to at a young age has the potential to shape your future and if you grow up experiencing the fun of engineering you are more likely to choose it as a career path. Schools provide the perfect platform for this as they give the opportunity for students to discover if this is something they enjoy, what opportunities are available and how to reach them.”

Ruth Howlett a Public Health Engineer at AECOM explains why she feels it’s important to reach out to schools and inspire the next generation.

“We’re faced with more and more challenges in the construction industry and reaching out to the next generation is an important mechanism to overcome some of these challenges. The next generation has grown up in a society filled with technology. This technology is becoming more and more integral to the construction industry - for example the use of 3D modelling to design constrained buildings. Younger people will be experts in these technologies so it's vital we break down the stereotypes and attract these skills to the construction sector.

AECOM’s commitment to gender diversity

AECOM is actively encouraging women into the engineering, and is keen to attract talent from a diverse range of backgrounds. Learn more about AECOM’s supportive working environment and exciting career opportunities.

Find out more