Women in Science and Engineering

A group of lower sixth science students took part in the ‘Women in Science and Engineering sixth form conference' at The Red Maids' School, Bristol on Thursday 25 February.  The conference consisted of a series of presentations and workshops on different aspects of science and engineering.

The first speaker was Helen Fennell, a chartered engineer and Fellow of the Institution of Chemical Engineers.  She is currently working for Petrofac Engineering Ltd where she provides safety and risk modelling expertise for the on and offshore oil and gas industry.  Helen spoke about the skills that are necessary to succeed in a role in a scientific business, emphasising the need for good communication skills and knowledge of how business decisions are made if you are to progress up the career ladder in this highly competitive environment.

The sixth form students then went to the first of their workshops.  The 20 workshops available were given by university researchers, hospital consultants, business managers and engineers and covered a whole range of topics including Quantum Physics, the development cycle of a mobile phone, how the brain works and how to test your entrepreneurial potential.  Some of the activities were very hands-on and involved quick decision making and teamwork.

Before lunch, there was a ‘question time' session where the two main speakers were joined by Marie-Noelle Barton, who was the director of WISE (Women into Science and Engineering) for almost 20 years.  The three presenters were grilled by the audience on aspects such as ‘does discrimination towards women still occur in the scientific workplace?' and  ‘how can we find out which of the huge range of university courses in engineering and science is the most appropriate for us?'.

After a very tasty lunch, it was time for the second workshop before the keynote speech.  The keynote speaker was Kate Bellingham.  Kate is a media presenter and broadcaster and is perhaps best known for presenting ‘Tomorrow's World' for 4 years.  She spoke about her early education and the various challenges that she had overcome during her very varied career path.  She emphasised the importance of seeing setbacks as opportunities to try something different and to learn new skills.

The conference was very inspirational and the sixth form students came away with a much better appreciation of the breadth of areas that scientific qualifications can lead to and the qualities required to succeed in their chosen field.

Sarah Eagle, Head of Physics

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