As the current president of the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE), I am honored to be only the third female and first person of color in over 200 years’ history of the institution.
Diversity and inclusion have been an important thread throughout my career and initiatives like International Women in Engineering Day (INWED), highlight how women are significantly contributing to the essential work we do in improving the quality of life in harmony with nature and why we still need to focus on improving diversity in the industry.
This year’s INWED theme is ‘#enhancedbyengineering’ and ‘enhance’ is such a good word to apply to the work women do across engineering, and what the sector does more broadly. At its heart, engineering is about improving and enhancing people’s lives. What we need to do is to find every opportunity to enhance the nature and environment too.
This takes many shapes and forms – for example, through improving access to public transport by building new rail infrastructure, supplying water to communities or by enhancing access to green space and reducing flood risk by building a community park.
Every year on INWED, the Women’s Engineering Society (WES) releases a list every year of women who are leading the way, and in my own career, and throughout my presidency, I’ve met women who are making amazing contributions daily.
Women like Claire Price, associate director at WSP, Georgia Thompson, a design manager at Costain, or Dr Priti Parekh, Professor of Infrastructure Engineering and International Development at University College London, and Paula McMohan, Regional Supervising Officer, Sir Robert McAlpine. Priti and Paula both serve as ICE Trustees as well.
But it is not just about gender.
When we think about diversity, it’s easy to just think about a mix of genders and skin tones, but diversity of thought is a concept we can’t overlook. This means drawing on the experience of not only different genders and people of different ethnic backgrounds, but also those who are of different abilities and socio-economic statuses, from different places around the world, and even from different fields than our own.
Having diverse teams brings a breadth of different perspectives that enhance creativity and problem-solving capabilities. We can’t solve the problems we face by remaining in silos, we must look for collaborative solutions across sectors, geographies and generations.
In my own career, one such project that is doing this is the 50L home initiative. I am lucky to represent my company, Arcadis, on this project.
It’s a global public-private collaboration which aims to build low carbon homes where 50L water consumption feels like 500L. Making sustainable living irresistible by bringing together diverse partners who focus on the same consumer and enable the transformation through different touch points, from the water fittings to the washing machine to the shampoo they use.
One of the unique things about this project is that it brings together thought leaders from across many sectors. Civil engineers like me are working with the likes of Procter & Gamble, Engie, Electrolux, Ikea, L’Occitane, Scottish Water and more.
The diversity of thought that these professionals bring to the table is what makes the biggest impact – we all approach the problem in different ways but for the shared outcomes.
To address the big problems of our day, like the climate and nature emergency, diversity is critical. We need more holistic and inclusive approaches to tackle these issues head on.
I hope to encourage diversity and inclusion throughout the rest of my tenure as ICE president and beyond, ensuring that the engineering industry continues to evolve and adapt, and I am looking forward to meeting more diverse, female, trailblazers, innovators, and creators.
