Celebrating our Engineering Heroes

CECA Scotland is proud to support International Women in Engineering Day on 23 June 2021 and the theme of this year’s campaign is celebrating our ‘Engineering Heroes’.

It is no surprise that civil engineering faces serious challenges in attracting women and girls to work in the industry despite the amazing career opportunities on offer.

The latest figures show that women account for only 1% of jobs and apprenticeships in the construction sector in Scotland. However the roots of the problem are laid from a young age with far fewer girls choosing STEM subjects at school despite outperforming boys in most disciplines.

The number of women in the profession is slowly rising, with female engineering student numbers currently standing at 16% in Scottish universities, but there is still a long way to go and CECA Scotland is determined to play its part in opening up the industry for everyone.

The construction sector is facing a massive skills shortage with over 26,000 extra jobs needing to be filled over the next four years as we build back better and set the country on a path to net zero. Scotland’s economic recovery will not get off the ground if we fail to realise the potential of unlocking the talents of more than half of our population.

That’s why we believe it is so important to use International Women in Engineering Day to showcase women in civil engineering and raise the profile of the industry and the fantastic careers available for women and girls.

Please read and share these profiles below of some of the #EngineeringHeroes working in engineering roles with CECA Scotland member companies.

You can find out more about International Women in Engineering Day and get involved in this year’s campaign on the website.

Caroline McKenzie, Customer Manager

Megan Smyth, Senior Contracts Engineer

Jacky Ingram, Regional Commissioning Manager