Women in Engineering Affinity Group

As part of our mission to showcase women in engineering careers, and to challenge stereotypes of professionals in these careers, we have developed a set of resources that we urge you to print and display in your workplace, school, college or university. We aim to show diversity, and would be delighted for you to feature on a poster or send us other resources we can share with the community.

We have developed posters to spotlight women engineers from our section doing their work in exciting engineering and science careers. The posters have statements designed to enhance the public’s understanding of the contributions of women technical professionals.

We hope that the public will increasingly value the role of IEEE and technical professionals in enhancing the quality of life and environment. The IEEE WIE posters provide awareness about engineering, career options, and how engineering is shaping the future.

Furthermore, by disseminating the exciting opportunities within the field of engineering, we hope that future generations of young students will be inspired to pursue these disciplines.

• Highlight the dynamic role models within IEEE
• Increase public awareness about engineering careers and how they benefit humanity
• Promote diversity within the engineering profession

If you are interested in participating in future editions of the poster, please submit the following information to wie-chair@ieee-ukandireland.org

• short biography – no more than five images of you doing your work (jpg format, high resolution, 300 dpi, landscape orientation);
• explain why you became a technical professional;
• information or advice you would like to pass on to a young girl interested in engineering;
• how your work as an engineer benefits humanity.

As part of our activities, IEEE UK and Ireland Women in Engineering have established a number of working groups focusing on specific aspects of our work.  We encourage participation in these working groups.  If you are interested in joining us, please contact IEEE WIE Chair.

The Early Career and Ambassador Network works to support early career female engineers and to extend the reach of the IEEE WIE UKI committee. Launched for International Women’s Day in 2021, the WIE Ambassadors scheme was developed to mentor and involve early career women and students who wish to get involved in organising events and activities that promote the WIE mission but who may not be IEEE members.

WIE Ambassadors have developed two free and open series of online workshops; the annual ‘Challenges and Opportunities’ webinar and the bi-monthly ‘Early Career Talks’.

WIE Ambassadors are encouraged to propose and manage new projects that support the WIE committee’s aim, and are responsible for:

• Organising a workshop/webinar, an event with a series of workshops/webinars or a conference/online conference.
• Supporting WIE events and conferences.
• Participating in WIE events, technical or non-technical conferences and outreach activities.

The aim of the schools outreach group is to coordinate the work of IEEE UK & Ireland WIE with respect to schools, their young people and the communities in which they live. It focuses on opening up opportunities for young people irrespective of their background and circumstances.

We know that there is still a gender imbalance across many of our subject areas and to help address this we need to open up opportunities to our young women and girls to ensure they have the knowledge, confidence and understanding about computer science, technology and engineering to make informed choices about their future. The main focus of the group for the immediate future will be to equip our members with the resources to effectively engage in school outreach by sharing expertise and resources across the wider membership, learning from one another and providing information and support through a series of events and other activities. We will also coordinate and share practice with other networks and groups working for a similar agenda and continue to lobby government and other key organisations for action and support at a national level.

This group aims at supporting and encouraging women engineers in their professional paths. The group collaborates with the industry to promote students in engineering to recruiters and illustrate potential career paths to students in a number of ways including career development days, internship opportunities, mentorship programmes, and industry’s involvement in academic advisory boards.

Given that industry roles and participation differs in various fields, we seek the help from all IEEE WIE UK & Ireland members who are encouraged to suggest themes, speakers, and companies who may be interested in supporting WIE activities.

The Awards and Projects group seeks to promote and improve the visibility of women in engineering. We can inspire others when we have visible role models and this makes it easier for women to imagine themselves in the same role.

This working group provides a platform to highlight the great work of women in engineering which we do through our yearly awards which recognise the skills and technical contribution women have made. We recognise the work of community members – including allies – to promote the visibility of women in computing.

Other projects we lead include matching up our wonderful array of female speakers with the many conferences that occur throughout the year. ’50/50′ by 2050 should not only be achievable but desirable long before then if we all play our part. Put yourself forward as a speaker and let us help connect you with an appropriate conference. Join the IEEE UK & Ireland WIE to promote and inspire women into careers in engineering.