Ready Steady Learn
Robyn MacLeod | Female engineers needed
MP3, 6m37s, 6.1MB, first broadcast 29 June 2010
Women in Engineering (WIE) provides support and services for current and prospective female students in the Faculty of Engineering. Robyn MacLeod, as the Women in Engineering Equity Adviser, heads up this programme. Part of her role is to attract more females to study engineering.
Young women are under-represented in engineering, yet the field offers excellent career opportunities for females. Women bring an important perspective to the field of engineering - they have unique problem-solving and creative skills that are in high demand, and they make fantastic project managers as they often have great communication and teamwork skills. Engineers make a real difference to people’s lives, and design much of the built environment and new technologies in our lives. It’s important females have input into this process by becoming engineers.
The Engineering Faculty hopes to increase its number of female students to 50 percent. Currently, 22 percent of engineering undergraduates and 25 percent of postgraduates are women.
One of the biggest events organised by WIE is Enginuity Day, which is happening this Thursday, July 1. More than 250 senior high school girls from 43 secondary schools from all over the North Island will descend on the Faculty of Engineering to take part in activities, talk to female engineers, and learn about the opportunities an engineering degree can bring.
