Inspire.  That’s what this blog has been created to do.

Being a female engineer was never really something that I thought of as unusual in anyway.  Maybe this is because of the way I was brought up – hands on, problem-solving solutions, trying out anything that I had an interest for.  Looking back now, I suppose gender wasn’t something that drove me to do any activities, or away from anything that was apparently for boys.  I was never driven towards or away from activities based on my gender. I immersed myself in things that interested me, regardless of who they were ‘supposed’ to be for. Kind of like Billy Elliot who tried out and loved ballet despite it typically being for girls.

I would play football during the day, then netball at night.  Cross-stitch before school followed by quad biking when school was out.  Bake cupcakes on a Saturday and lay concrete on a Sunday.  To me, anybody could do any activity, regardless of your gender.  I think that’s why I found it so surprising when someone would reply with “You’re an engineer!?!” with the same disbelief than that the last person. This is a response I had on numerous occasions, equally from both men and women.

Now that I think about it, it’s no surprise that people are shocked about what I do.  In the past, it really was only men that were engineers but things are changing, slowly.  More and more women enrol on Engineering courses – my course at university was surprisingly split fifty-fifty between genders.  However, comparing this to straight Mechanical Engineering, the class seen about four girls in comparison to 100+ boys.

When someone says “You’re a mechanical engineer?” I feel delight that I baffle them.  To me, its natural, its something that I love and its a quality that I am proud off.    Being an engineer is hard work, demanding but ultimately, rewarding.  Things are always changing and improving.  Who wouldn’t want to be involved in the forefront of that?

TV shows also tend to suggest certain jobs that are ‘cool’ for girls.  Girls grow up watching programmes such as 90210, How I meet your Mother and Pretty Little Liars. The girls in these shows want to be journalists, models, actresses and psychiatrists.  What about physicists, architects, mathematicians and engineers?

“I want to be an Engineer, but nobody in TV shows want to be an Engineer!?! Maybe I actually want to be a journalist because they seem ‘cool’.  Yes, thats right! … But I’m not passionate about that.  I’m passionate about design for the future!”

These ideas would haunt my teenage years.  Conflicting me for who I truly wanted to be. The Big Bang Theory has been great for opening other potential career options.  However, this focuses on guys.  Even in this show, ‘normal’, non-geeky Penny wants to be an actress.  Typical.

Inspire.  I want girls to read this blog and think, actually, its ‘cool’ to be an engineer.  You don’t need to be a certain type of person to be one – geeky and non-geeky.  You just need a passion for innovation, eye for designing the future and drive to make things a reality.  Does that not sound ‘cool’ enough?

The Female Engineer