Engineering doesn’t have gender. That’s the message from female engineers at Volvo Construction Equipment (Volvo CE) this International Women in Engineering Day as it calls for more young women and girls to enter the sector and play their part to build the world we want to live in.
With a commitment to have at least 35% female employees by 2030, Volvo CE is looking to raise the profile of women working in engineering and increase its position as an attractive, accessible and rewarding career.
This year’s theme for International Women in Engineering Day is engineering heroes. To celebrate, a number of female heroes from Volvo CE across a variety of disciplines around the world are showing that gender does not put a limit on your ability to succeed in engineering.
Carolina Diez Ferrer, Head of Advanced Engineering Programs at Volvo CE, says: “The world we live in is going to change. We want to have a more sustainable planet. We see increasing automation, digitalization. All of these solutions will be performed by engineers.
‘Ever since I was a little girl, I’ve been interested in computers and electronics, and I couldn’t stop thinking about what the world would be like when I grew up. I wanted to be involved in building this world that I couldn’t stop dreaming about.
“With engineering, the sky is the limit. We engineers can develop systems and devices to make things happen.”
The number of women employed in engineering globally is low. Likewise, the construction equipment sector has work to do to attract more women. Progress is being made and by working together – men and women –a better gender balance can be achieved.
Equal representation of engineering skills is imperative to tackle some of the biggest challenges facing us as a society and approach these challenges from as broad a perspective as possible.
“Engineers need to be more visible in society to make young people realize there are heroes here as well’, says Anna Sannö, Research Strategy Manager at Volvo CE.
“Engineering is a ticket into a world of opportunities, a chance to improve the lives of people with technology.”
“I love to fix things,” explains Dana Skovrinskie, Head of Manufacturing and Engineering, at Volve CE. “I love challenges every day and the chance to work with lots of people.”
With AI, robotics, nanotechnology, 3D printing, genomics, biotechnology and cognitive sciences all on the rise, demand for STEM skills is only going to grow. This means there are a wealth of opportunities for young women and girls to get involved and embark on careers in an exciting, stimulating, challenging and rewarding sector that is destined to transform future societies.
For many years, Volvo CE has led school collaboration initiatives to highlight careers in science and engineering and bring together budding female engineers to educate them about the skills they need to succeed. And now on International Women in Engineering Day, Volvo CE is proud to highlight the work of its female engineers and is calling upon more girls and young women to consider a career in a sector that could one day play a pivotal role in delivering positive change, for our climate, resources and people.
For as Sophie Liu, Structure and Durability Analyst Engineer at Volvo CE in China so succinctly puts it: “Engineering itself doesn’t have gender.”
