This week we celebrate International Women in Engineering Day on 23rd June and we showed our support for this campaign through the #ShapeTheWorld initiative.
We connected with our female engineers across Van Elle and asked them to share their thoughts and experiences of working in engineering and how Van Elle has supported their career in the hope we can inspire the next generation of female engineers. Here are a selection of the thoughts and views of some of our female engineers.
Claire Garrett, Ground Improvement Director
Claire joined Van Elle nearly a year ago and leads our Ground Improvement team, championing our innovative foundation solutions.
Claire chose to continue with her career with Van Elle as she feels that ‘Van Elle has always supported my development, endorsing my decisions, and encouraged me to get involved in company projects & initiatives. Working in engineering brings different challenges each day and I relish the opportunity to problem solve.’
For any future female aspiring engineer, the one tip or captivating thought Claire would like to share is ‘as your start your career path is to be confident in your ability and trust your own intuition‘
Frances McWilliams, Design Engineer, Housing
Frances is one of our budding Design Engineers, and has been with Van Elle for 3 years, and she believes ‘Van Elle has encouraged me to develop my knowledge and given me the opportunity to learn from experts in many fields not just engineering. Working in engineering, I mostly enjoy seeing the hard work of my team become a reality on site.’
Frances’ advice for any female considering engineering would be ‘do not be afraid to speak up, your voice has value
Emma Haddow, Design & Estimating Manager, Housing
Emma has been with Van Elle for over 13 years and has developed in her career to become a key team member of our Design & Estimating team. Emma stated that she is ‘thankful that Van Elle provided me the opportunity to work in several departments and build my ground engineering knowledge, and that here is a culture where learning and development is encouraged. I really enjoy the fast-paced nature of engineering, and every day is different.
Anyone starting out in a career in engineering, Emma’s advice is to ‘not be afraid to be assertive. This is a strength, not a weakness.’