Julia Elizabeth King, Baroness Brown of Cambridge, is a British engineer and a crossbench member of the House of Lords, where she chairs the Select Committee on Science and Technology. She is the incumbent chair of the Carbon Trust and the Henry Royce Institute, and was the vice-chancellor of Aston University from 2006 to 2016.
Dame Julia Stretton Higgins is a British polymer scientist. Since 1976 she has been based at the Department of Chemical Engineering at Imperial College London, where she is emeritus professor and senior research investigator.
Margaret Elizabeth Philbin OBE is an English radio and television presenter whose credits include Tomorrow's World, Multi-Coloured Swap Shop and latterly Bang Goes the Theory.
Pauline Perry, Baroness Perry of Southwark is an educator, educationist, academic, and activist. She is a Conservative politician and was for 25 years a working member of the British House of Lords. In 1981 she became Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Schools in England. In 1986 she became Vice-Chancellor of South Bank Polytechnic, and serving during its transition to a university, became the first woman in history to run a British university.
Katherine Bellingham is an English engineer and television presenter known for her role presenting the BBC1 science show Tomorrow's World from 1990–1994. Following a period pursuing other interests and raising children, she resumed her broadcasting career in 2010.
Beryl Catherine Platt, Baroness Platt of WrittleHonFIMechE was a British Conservative politician and member of the House of Lords. Her background was in engineering, and she worked in aeronautics and aviation safety. She retained a strong interest in science and technology, particularly the role and advancement of women in these fields.
The Women's Engineering Society is a United Kingdom professional learned society and networking body for women engineers, scientists and technologists. It was the first professional body set up for women working in all areas of engineering, predating the Society of Women Engineers by around 30 years.
The UKRC is a UK organisation for the provision of advice, services and policy consultation regarding the under-representation of women in science, engineering, technology and the built environment (SET). It is funded by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and was launched in 2004.
Anne Caroline Jenkin, Baroness Jenkin of Kennington is a Conservative member of the House of Lords.
Women are often under-represented in the academic and professional fields of engineering; however, many women have contributed to the diverse fields of engineering historically and currently. A number of organizations and programs have been created to understand and overcome this tradition of gender disparity. Some have decried this gender gap, saying that it indicates the absence of potential talent. Though the gender gap as a whole is narrowing, there is still a growing gap with minority women compared to their white counterparts. Gender stereotypes, low rates of female engineering students, and engineering culture are factors that contribute to the current situation where men dominate in fields relating to engineering sciences.
Many scholars and policymakers have noted that the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) have remained predominantly male with historically low participation among women since the origins of these fields in the 18th century during the Age of Enlightenment.
Gillian Arnold is a British Information technology leader. She is a BCS Vice President and the Past Chair of the BCSWomen Specialist Group that supports women in the IT industry. In 2015, she was identified as the 9th Most Influential Women in UK IT 2015, by Computer Weekly. In 2016, Arnold was again identified as one of the 50 most influential women in UK IT 2016 by Computer Weekly.
Trudy Norris-Grey is a Welsh businesswoman, and is a well-recognized leader in the U.K., globally and in the Tech industry.
Equate Scotland is an organisation established to promote and encourage the advancement of women in science, engineering, technology and the built environment. It is based at Edinburgh Napier University in Scotland.
The Society for Canadian Women in Science and Technology (SCWIST), founded in Vancouver, BC in 1981, is a not-for-profit organization that promotes, encourages and empowers women and girls in science, engineering and technology.
Dawn Bonfield is a materials engineer and founder and director of Towards Vision, a company which aims to work towards a vision of diversity and inclusion in engineering. She is past president and former chief executive of the Women's Engineering Society (WES), and in 2018 was an ambassador for the Year of Engineering, promoting engineering careers through a roadshow aimed at meeting parents.
The Finniston Report was a report into the engineering profession in the United Kingdom, commissioned in 1979 by the Labour government. Led by Monty Finniston it investigated how well the professional institutions were serving their members and whether it was desirable to introduce statutory regulation of the industry. It recommended abolition of the Council of Engineering Institutions (CEI), the establishment of a statutory Engineering Authority to regulate the profession, and the introduction of engineer's degrees. After its publication in 1980 the then-Conservative government decided against statutory regulation but replaced the CEI with the Engineering Council (EC). The EC would later restrict admission to the status of chartered engineer to those with engineer's degrees. The EC's 2000 Hamilton Report stated that the Finniston Report had been unfairly labeled as dirigiste and that it had actually recommended little direct legislative control over the profession.
Mamta Singhal MBE BEng MSc MBA CEng FIET FWES is a design engineer and an active campaigner on diversity in engineering. In 2022 she was awarded an MBE in the New Years Honours for services to engineering. In 2007, she was awarded the Women's Engineering Society Prize for engaging and inspiring young people's interest in STEM.
Women have played a role in engineering in the United Kingdom for hundreds of years, despite the various societal barriers facing them. In the 18th and 19th century, there were few formal training opportunities for women to train as engineers and frequently women were introduced to engineering through family companies or their spouses. Some women did have more formal educations in the late 19th century and early 20th century, normally in mathematics or science subjects. There are several examples of women filing patents in the 19th century, including Sarah Guppy, Henrietta Vansittart and Hertha Ayrton.
Marlene Kanga is an engineer, entrepreneur, and diversity activist, who was awarded Queens Birthday honours in 2022. She was appointed an officer of the Order of Australia for her substantial service to Engineering, particularly as a global leader and role model to women to professional organisations, and to business.
