Engineering: it's not just for boys

Emma Thompson
Emma Thompson
Mechanical Engineer
Graduate
2013
Emma Thompson graduated from the University of Sheffield in 2013 in Mechanical Engineering.

Watch: Our interview with Emma

Mechanical Engineering was something I hadn't really experiences before at school, I was always someone that was interest in maths and physics but didn't really know where to go with it and someone suggested engineering to me. I went to a starter course to learn about what engineering was, I got to have a taste of electrical, mechanical, civil and what other types of engineering were really like. It got me really keen on engineering and also let me decide which discipline I wanted to go into as well. 

How do we encourage more women to work and study engineering?

During my last year in University I've been heavily involved in setting up the Women in Engineering Society. This was set about in September 2013, so fairly recently with an aim of raising awareness of engineering in general and speaking to younger students, especially females to show them exactly what engineering is and that it's not just for boys, it's not fixing cars, and females are just as good as males. 

How do we encourage more women to work and study engineering?

During my last year in University I've been heavily involved in setting up the Women in Engineering Society. This was set about in September 2013, so fairly recently with an aim of raising awareness of engineering in general and speaking to younger students, especially females to show them exactly what engineering is and that it's not just for boys, it's not fixing cars, and females are just as good as males. 

We interviewed Emma in 2014.


Four students laughing while sat at a bench, outside the Students' Union

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