Q&A with an aspiring engineer!
For International Women in Engineering Day, we interviewed our Head of Engineering Recruitment, Chris Carter’s daughter Emma who is currently studying for her Chemical Engineering Degree. We wanted to find out what her experience has been like throughout her education leading up to her inevitably entering the Engineering world!
Q1. Who/what inspired you to study for a career in the engineering industry?
At secondary school, there was a huge emphasis on getting people (especially women) onto pathways that would lead to careers in STEM. There was a large spectrum of activity days offered both by the school and outside companies to showcase various forms of science and engineering, including trips to the Get Up to Speed event. As someone who’d always been interested in science and maths, engineering showed itself to be a practical marriage of the two with real-world applications and problems to solve.
Q2. What does your route into engineering look like?
At GCSE I took Engineering as one of my 3 options alongside the required English, maths and sciences. During this, I undertook a 2-week work experience at Casting Technologies. I studied Maths, Chemistry and Engineering at A level after which I planned to apply for an apprenticeship however due to the economic effects of the pandemic I instead applied to university. Currently, I have just finished the foundation year of my chemical engineering degree and will be progressing onto my first year in September. I’m expecting this to take 4 years as I’d like to do a placement year between second and final year and from there either enter post-graduate education or look for a career in the industry.
Q3. What do you precede will be the biggest challenge you’ll face upon entering the industry?
At the moment, I feel my biggest challenge will be being regarded as an equal counterpart to male colleagues. My experience so far has been that there’s a tendency for men to regard other men’s ideas in higher esteem than those of women even if they’re in essence identical.
