International Women in Engineering Day (INWED) takes place annually on 23rd June. This awareness campaign celebrates the outstanding achievements of women in engineering around the world and focuses attention on the amazing opportunities available in this industry.
At M247 we have a commitment to building a diverse workforce – including women in tech and to encourage more balance in the industry. Statistics have shown a steady rise in tech over the past five years, but being approximately 17% of the UK workforce women are still the minority. 27% of our colleagues our women and 8% of our engineers are women, and we are passionate about continuing to improve this.
We are a gold partner to InnovateHer and help them to equip girls aged 12-16 with the confidence and skills necessary to pursue a career within STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) sector jobs. We provide apprenticeship and graduate routes in our business and champion flexible working where possible for all – this is key to adhering to our principle of employing the right person for the job and removing barriers.
The theme for INWED 2020 is #ShapeTheWorld. M247’s engineers tell us how they shape the world, and help make our planet a safe, more innovative and exciting place to be…
Wendy Tappenden is a Technical Support Analyst in M247’s Support Team
‘I didn’t choose to work in engineering, engineering chose me! I started working at M247 many years ago in an administrative role, when the company bought their first Data Centre I moved into a technical role and started my engineering journey. 12 years later I’m still here, and it has been such a pleasure to see how the data centre has grown.
What I enjoy most about working in engineering is the joy of successfully helping our customers. I love the inclusivity of working at M247 – I don’t see myself as a ‘woman in engineering’ just as any other technician in the team.’
Nadica Delova-Biali is a Senior Network Engineer in M247’s Customer Delivery Team.
‘At the age of 18 I finished High School of Natural Science and Mathematics and started a five-year University degree course at a Faculty for Electrical Engineering and Telecommunications, where only 5% of the students were females. Maths and Science were always my favourite subjects at school and it was during my time at university I realised that engineering is basically applying maths and science to improve the world around us. Shortly after my dissertation I got my first IT job as IT Technical Support at Together Money (who have grown with M247 and are still a customer of ours!). I then moved onto M247, and the past seven years here have been a blast!
Initially, being a woman in engineering was challenging. I expected to face huge challenges in the male dominated environment and felt I had to prove myself. After 13 years in the industry thankfully this has changed and the gender balance is improving. I am very proud to be part of the Women in Engineering society, especially working for M247 who are actively helping to promote and provide career guidance on engineering in schools and academies. As a volunteer I help a local Brownies and I am known as the Engineer Owl! It gives me great pleasure to be an inspiration for these young ladies.
I have proven myself throughout my engineering career. Whether I am the only woman in the meeting or not, it really doesn’t make a difference to me!’
Women and men around the world can help to raise the profile of women engineers and encourage more people to consider engineering as a profession.
M247’s CEO, Jenny Davies’ advice for any women looking to embark on this career path is ‘Know that it is ok to be different – know your worth, work really hard and let the results speak for themselves. The STEM industry is filled with plenty of learning opportunities, and each day is filled with new and exciting challenges.’
Get involved and help us #ShapeTheWorld this year! #INWED2020
