Currently only 10% of the engineering workforce in Ireland, and just 20% of engineering undergraduates, are women. DIT aims to change those statistics.

Last week, DIT invited more than 200 girls from secondary schools across Ireland to a unique, 'Girls Only' event - Women in Engineering - A Role Model Day for 2nd level students. Designed to encourage young women to choose engineering as a career, the speakers at the event were all women who have made successful careers in the profession and who enthusiastically recommended it to their young audience.

According to Deirdre Staunton of the College of Engineering and the Built Environment at DIT, and one of the organisers of the event, engineering should not be a man's world. "In China, 40% of engineers are women. In Sweden it's 26%. Although underrepresented in the engineering profession here in Ireland, many women have established hugely rewarding and successful careers in the field," said Staunton.

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"Engineering is all around us - in our buildings, transport, manufacturing, medical devices, energy, etc. etc. There are many different roles in industry for engineers, and we know that the most effective way of encouraging girls to choose engineering is by showing them some of those options and letting them hear first hand from those who have gone before them."

Proving that women make good engineers, speakers at the event included current engineering students, recent graduates and women with years of experience in the field. Anne Butler, Former President of Engineers Ireland and a founding director of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) formally opened the event. The second level students then heard from a number of women who have succeeded in both traditional and non-traditional areas of engineering. They heard about the career path of Regina Moran, Chairwoman of ICT Ireland and CEO of Fujitsu Ireland, Pauline Martin, Senior Quality Engineer, SAP Ireland and Clodagh O Donnell, Director, Information Solutions and Services, Aer Lingus.

(CD)