The Buzz Episode 5: Women in Engineering

The Buzz podcast 23rd June 2020

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Tuesday, 23 June is International Women in Engineering Day – an event that celebrates the female engineers making waves and solving challenges across the globe. But why do we need a special day to celebrate this?

According to the WISE Campaign, there are now over 50,000 women in engineering roles in the UK – nearly double the figure a decade ago. However, to put this into perspective, this accounts for only 10% of the UK’s entire engineering workforce. There is still work to be done.

In this episode of The Buzz, we chat to a couple of the Faculty of Science and Engineering’s own engineers. We ask Professor of Radio Frequency Engineering Danielle George MBE what inspired her to make the move from science to engineering during her time at Jodrell Bank. And we ask Dr Jessica Boland, Lecturer of Functional Materials and Devices at the Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering, what we can do to inspire more girls to choose engineering as both a study and career choice. You can listen to Dr Boland’s interview in full at the link below.

There’s also the return of our regular feature, Kids’ Questions, with one listener asking why there aren’t more female scientists. And we showcase a few of our engineering heroes from the last hundred years – including a motorcycle legend and a star of the silver screen.

You can listen to the full interview with Dr Jessie Boland by clicking on the link below:

• Dr Jessica Boland interview

UoM’s women in engineering (L to R): Prof Danielle George and Dr Jessica Boland

You can find out more about some of the topics we discuss at the links below:

• “All the problems of the world will be solved by engineers”
• How young women of STEM are restoring the balance
• Meet Manchester’s most inspiring alumni
• On your bike! UoM hero of engineering Beatrice Shilling celebrated in new documentary
• Inspiring the future women of STEM
• Girls into STEM – “Anyone can be a scientist”
• Dragonfly Day – “Women can do anything”
• ‘Bring Your Daughter to Work’ event takes flight
• Overcoming gender prejudice to deliver research impact

*This episode of The Buzz was recorded in lockdown and sound quality may be affected.

Beatrice ShillingElectrical and Electronic EngineeringInternational Women in Engineering DayThe BuzzThe Buzz PodcastUOMWomenwomen in engineeringwomen in STEM