Taking place annually on June 23, International Women in Engineering Day (INWED) is an international awareness campaign celebrating the work and achievements of women engineers.
The day provides an opportunity to raise the profile of women engineers and highlight the career opportunities available.
Launched initially in the UK by the Women’s Engineering Society (WES) as a national initiative, INWED has grown year by year, and has since achieved a global reach and UNESCO patronage.
The idea behind the day is to encourage all groups – governmental, educational, corporate, individuals and further organisations – to hold events to support the day and link them together for maximum impact.
INWED is delivered by Women’s Engineering Society, a membership organisation that ensures equality for women in this non-traditional sector.
The organisation follows three objectives:
- To support women to achieve their potential as engineers, applied scientists and leaders and to reward excellence
- To encourage and promote the education, study and application of engineering
- To work with organisations and influencers to promote gender diversity and equality in the workplace and sustain the historic legacy and future effectiveness of the Women’s Engineering Society.
To celebrate INWED 2021, WES has planned a virtual celebration of women in engineering. During the session they will announce the 2021 Top 50 Women in Engineering Awards on this year’s theme of “Engineering Heroes”. For more details of the event, click here.
In the Australian HVAC&R and building services sector, the Australian Institute of Refrigeration, Air Conditioning and Heating (AIRAH) notes that although demand for diverse engineering workforces has increased, enrolment in STEM fields remains predominantly male with less than 20 per cent of engineering graduates identifying as women.
The Women of AIRAH Special Technical Group, established in 2016, promotes diversity, representation and inclusion within the ranks of HVAC&R.
“The Women of AIRAH group is about improving diversity and the representation of women in the industry,” says Women of AIRAH chair and AIRAH board member Ura Sarfejoo, M.AIRAH. “It’s important for women to feel included. For the sake of the profession, engineering needs more women to get involved.”