Engineers Sue and Ruth join the elite
Two women engineers have been awarded an industry accolade that is held by only one other woman in the region.
Ruth Taylor and Sue Shaw have been made fellows of the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE), a status granted to those at the top level of the profession.
Ruth, an associate at Pick Everard, in Leicester, and Sue, a regional manager at Babcock International Group, in Whetstone, have taken the number of female fellows in the East Midlands to three.
Only engineers with a position of responsibility in the planning, design, maintenance or management of important engineering work can be awarded the level of membership.
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Malcolm Jackson, regional director for ICE East Midlands, said: "Gaining ICE fellowship is an exceptional achievement and I warmly congratulate Sue and Ruth on joining an elite group of civil engineers.
"This highly-respected accolade recognises a significant contribution to the civil engineering profession and seniority in the industry."
Ruth, 47, who lives in Oadby, has worked at Pick Everard for 25 years where she heads a team whose main area of work is designing water supply and sewage projects, prisons and schools. She also mentors graduates who join the firm.
Ruth said although the number of women in the industry was growing, they were still under represented.
"I think it's becoming more usual for female graduates to choose engineering than when I was at uni," she said.
"But it's nowhere near a 50-50 representation and I think we need more role models for young girls.
"I think it's an exciting career but perhaps it's not being suggested to them as a career when they are in school."
Ruth added: "I have never felt there have been barriers and the female graduates we have here are as good as any of their male counterparts."
She said two of her proudest achievements were her involvement in the design of Leicester Grammar School and managing a five-year project for Severn Tent Water's water supply and sewage treatment network across the region.
Ruth said young people of both sexes needed to be encouraged to follow a career in civil engineering.
She said: "I think when work picks up, there will be a shortage of young people coming through. Maybe it's not seen as glamorous or people have this idea it's all about maths, but a lot of civil engineering plays a huge part in people's lives.
"There not much in terms of civilisation that's not impacted by civil engineering."
Sue, who lives in Barkby, is regional manager for Babcock International Group's nuclear business unit in Whetstone.
She said one of her career highlights was carrying out a large programme of work for EDF Energy.
Sue said: "I am proud to have achieved fellowship and appreciate that my peers within the profession recognise that I have reached a sufficient level of competence to justify such an honour."
She said it could be difficult for women to reach senior positions in the industry.
"I think what you find is there's big drop out rate of women once they have children because engineering is quite full on – there's not a lot of part-time work," she said. "I was very lucky in that I managed to afford childcare.
"When you are a woman in this industry and you are dealing with new people, you have to be as good as the men, if not better. But once they get to know you it's not a problem."
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