It’s International Women in Engineering Day this weekend and as Hitachi believes that diversity is the wellspring of innovation and a powerful growth engine, we’d like to help inspire future women engineers around the world. We are happy to celebrate the achievements of women engineers and we’re hoping to contribute to encouraging girls to consider a career in the sector.
Read an inspiring story of Jené, one of our Software Engineers, about her finding her way to the career of engineering:
‘It started when I was in school and took some career aptitude test which were always the same outcome, all my suggested career paths had to do with engineering. I always felt, however, that you had to be smart and good at maths to be able to do any engineering jobs, areas I thought I lacked in. It was only later in my life that I realised that it wasn’t only about being smart it’s more about a way of thinking, a way of solving problems and the logical thought process that just comes naturally, and this is something I have a trait I feel I inherited from my dad.
My dad always preached logical thinking and would encouraged me to come up with ways to tackle a project before he would help me complete it, something that I feel grew my own abilities in engineering.
I’ve always been fascinated with knowing how things work and computers were no exception, I used to pull apart old computers to study the hardware components but I wanted to know how a computer worked in the background, how it processed information. It was only after I studied desk top publishing back in 2006 that I got introduced to programming and then I wanted to know more, this is when I started my long journey to becoming a software engineer.'
Q: What would you say to someone who thinks engineering is a career better suited to men, not women?
A: Women are discouraged from being and thinking in certain ways throughout their lives so its challenge for us to convince ourselves and others that we can do it, so if a woman is in a engineering career this shows that she has just as much if not more courage, confidence and drive as a man to be a great engineer.
Q: Have you seen an increase in the number of female engineers during your career? If so/if not, why do you think this is?
A: I’ve only just started my career but there were a few more women than I expected in computing/engineering when I was at University.
Q: What advice would you give young girls considering a career in engineering?
A: Do some research, short course or online materials to get a feel for what to expect and see what direction you want to go in, sometimes the reality of things can be different to what you imagine or expect.
Engineering is made up of a wide range of disciplines and following a career in one discipline may actually reveal other areas that are better suited to your interests.
I found being confident in my abilities and whether or not I was good enough was the hardest part to get past, I found taking courses in programming languages helped boost my confidence and prove to myself that I can do it, while also cementing my interest in software engineering, so don’t be afraid to try things out.
Q: What three things make you most proud to be a female engineer in Hitachi?
A: Working in a great team. Learning about a fascinating industry. Being part of a global brand.