Transforming the future: International Women in Engineering Day

“I remember looking at the graduation composites on the walls of the engineering building at the University of New Brunswick (UNB) and being blown away by how few female faces there were,” Megan O’Donnell, support specialist with the technical services team at Measurand said. “Even in my classes, it was not uncommon for there to be just a handful of female students or even to be the only female in a class.”

According to Engineers Canada, women account for less than 13 per cent of practicing professional engineers in Canada. While enrollment in university programs steadily increase, under-representation for women in the engineering profession remains a reality.

“Promoting engineering as a possible career path for girls and women is extremely important. Not only are women engineers equally capable, I think it’s important to recognize that women possess different skills and abilities than men, and that they bring a different perspective to the table in a lot of situations,” O’Donnell said.

Megan O’Donnell, support specialist

Christiane Levesque, director of research at Measurand agrees: “I think the reason it is so important to have more women in engineering is that we often see things from a different viewpoint. Our experiences can lead to new and interesting ways to solve problems.”

Mike Guinyou, Operations and Project Manager, Monir Precision Monitoring (left) and Christiane Levesque (right) view data on a laptop.

As a company that seeks to create a workplace community that promotes equality and inclusion, Measurand recognizes the importance of supporting women in engineering as the profession grows. We are proud to observe International Women in Engineering Day (INWED) this Sunday, June 23. The Women’s Engineering Network (WES) launched INWED in 2014 to promote and celebrate the achievements in engineering made by women. INWED aims to “raise the profile of women in engineering and focus attention on the amazing career opportunities available to girls in this exciting industry.”

“Since many of the works engineers undertake are meant to serve the community at large, having more women bring their understanding of people’s needs to engineering projects can only help better serve the general public,” Levesque said.

Read The women who help shape the world: International Women in Engineering Day 2020 – Measurand