Historically, female engineers might have struggled to hold their own in a room full of male colleagues. Diana Thomas McEwen knows, first hand, that this simply isn’t the case any more. “I see everyday… more women coming through that have the right attitude and have the right confidence,” Diana says. They are able to “stand up to their male counterparts or colleagues or peers” but “also have the right opinions, that perhaps would shock other people.” She says, in her experience, an older generation might sometimes want to “flatten these opinions” – but female engineers have learnt to speak out and be heard.

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4.  Women aren’t as good at science, technology or maths

According to a statistical paper published by the Women’s Engineering Society, “Girls are now more likely than boys to achieve high A*-B grades across nearly all STEM GCSE subjects (sometimes spectacularly so, e.g. in D&T where 49.9% of female entrants achieve A*-B compared to 29.4% of male entrants, and in Engineering, where the respective figures are 36.8% girls and 17.3% boys achieving A*-B grades).” It’s true that the proportion of girls pursuing these subjects further drops off dramatically, but the above stats suggest cultural norms and other factors are to blame, rather than a lack of ability.

Only 14.2% of those who achieve first degrees in engineering are female (Royal Academy of Engineering, 2015)

5.  Women are good at soft skills, not technical ones

Technical ability is not defined by gender. “The stereotypical fact”, Diana Thomas McEwen says, “is women don’t know anything about engineering, which is simply not true. Absolutely not true.” Crucially, too, it’s a myth that being an engineer doesn’t require what is defined as “soft skills”: self-awareness, empathy, self-control, and an ability to listen. You can’t be a successful engineer without communicating effectively with clients and colleagues, working well in a team and remaining nimble and adaptable.

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