Womengineer – working for gender equality in the engineering profession
Womengineer is Swedish non-profit organization with a very ambitious vision: “… by 2030, we want 50% of all graduated engineers in Sweden to be women”. The core of their networking activities is a website [womengineer.org] which “emphasizes female role models in the form of engineering students and practicing engineers which may inspire other women to approach technical educations.”
The website has eight permanent bloggers and offers news, inside stories, study tips and presentation of role models. Although most of it is in Swedish, it is well worth a visit for those interested in similar networks; there’s a lot to be inspired from in the information structure and design.
Crastina got in touch with Johanna Öjeling and Maja Sölve, both tech students in Lund, studying Industrial engineering and management, and members of the project group of Womengineer.
Johanna Öjeling, project manager
Tell us a little about Womengineer – it’s mission, how it was founded and your current activities.
Womengineer is a non-profit organization, which aims to inspire more women to pursue an education in engineering. It was founded in 2008 by two students at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm. The long-term goal is complete gender equality among recently graduated engineers in Sweden by 2030. To achieve this, we run the online platform womengineer.org containing student blogs and interviews with professional engineers. Every year we also organize IGEday (Introduce a Girl to Engineering day), which is an event that allows companies to invite girls through the ages of 12 to 19 to visit their office and step into the shoes of an engineer for a day. The purpose of this day is to increase the interest in technology among young girls and give them a clearer picture of what an engineer does on a daily basis.
Why should Womengineer matter to female high school and tech students?
Womengineer is a source of inspiration and information that provides female high school and tech students with role models. This gives them the confidence and motivation to choose a career in technology; “if she can, I can”.
Maja Sölve, PR and communication
Give three arguments which can motivate a female high school student to choose a technical university education!
- Change the world! Technology is integrated in every part of society today and engineers play a huge role in solving the greatest challenges we encounter. As an engineer you will have a real opportunity to make a difference.
- Learn new things and create cool stuff! A career in engineering will give you the opportunity to continuously learn something new and create some really amazing things, such as artificial hearts and pacemakers, smartphone apps, self-driving cars and futuristic gadgets that are yet to be invented..!
- See new places and experience different cultures! Engineers are needed all over the world. As a result, you will have the possibility to work in international organizations and visit exotic places.
More about the project group in English.
- Claire Price of Crastina receives outreach award from Royal Society of Biology - October 25, 2020
- Agile Science student project at Brussels Engineering School ECAM: “We can’t wait to try it again!” - August 28, 2020
- Create an infographic in the Lifeology SciArt Infographic Challenge - June 16, 2020
- Adam Ruben – The scientist that teaches undergraduate students comedy - March 27, 2020
- Sam Gregson, Bad Boy of Science: “Comedy helps to bridge the gap” - March 10, 2020
- The Coolest Science Merchandise of 2019 - December 16, 2019
- Science Media Centre (UK) offers guide on dealing with online harassment in academia - November 26, 2019
- Agile project management taught to students and researchers at Karolinska Institutet - September 20, 2019
- Stefan Jansson: Improve your credibility! (Crastina Column, September 2019) - September 6, 2019
- The People’s Poet: Silke Kramprich, tech communicator - August 31, 2019
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