{"id":7728,"date":"2018-02-21T11:10:16","date_gmt":"2018-02-21T11:10:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ounews.co\/?p=7728"},"modified":"2018-02-21T11:10:16","modified_gmt":"2018-02-21T11:10:16","slug":"discrimination-women-in-construction-and-engineering","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/student-stories\/discrimination-women-in-construction-and-engineering\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Discrimination needs to stop.’ Being a woman in construction and engineering."},"content":{"rendered":"

Although a high achiever academically, Steph Lee, 27, from Newcastle, realised that instead of traditional university, she wanted to start a career and get earning. But she felt she faced discrimination along the way to her dream role in engineering. Despite this, she’s forged ahead in this sector, and has almost completed her\u00a0Bachelor of Engineering<\/a> degree with the OU.<\/em><\/p>\n

First step on the career ladder<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\"Steph

Steph Lee has always wanted to be an engineer<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cAfter completing my A-Levels, I still wasn\u2019t entirely sure what I was doing with my life, and applied to and gained a place at Dundee University to study architecture. Unfortunately, I fell ill and couldn\u2019t take up the offer. It wasn\u2019t until I recovered that I realised the academic route wasn\u2019t what I wanted \u2013 although I achieved all As for GCSEs. I wanted to start a career, begin earning, and actually work!<\/p>\n

\u201cI started off as an administrator at an oil and gas company in Newcastle; there I started to progress up, and sideways, on the career ladder. Unfortunately, I was told I would never become an engineer because there\u2019s no one to teach me in the company and I\u2019d have to go to university, which the company wouldn’t fund, despite male colleagues being offered this opportunity.<\/p>\n

\u201cI researched and researched my study options. I wanted to prove I could achieve my aspirations of being an engineer, despite the uphill struggle. Full-time courses weren\u2019t an option as I had to work. That\u2019s when I enrolled on a course with the OU, covering the cost with a student loan, as it offered the perfect balance between earning and learning.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe just need a woman\u2019s touch, you know, with our paperwork and stuff\u201d<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\u201cObviously, I wanted career progression and a passion for studying will always be there for me, but it was the personal satisfaction element that has spurred me on since I started my Bachelor in Engineering six years ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have been in various jobs, moving into construction, and recently in marine and ship management. As a woman in construction and engineering, I have been discriminated against regularly. I am a great believer of women being encouraged to study and work in engineering. I feel like more women need to step up, speak up, and be counted as valuable members of the engineering industry.<\/p>\n

I attended an interview once for a design role; I was greeted with \u2018I\u2019ve never interviewed a woman before\u2019. On another occasion, when I was in an interview for a support engineer role, I was told \u2018we just need a woman\u2019s touch, you know, with our paperwork and stuff.\u2019 Discrimination and unconscious bias like this needs to stop!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Dedication. Determination. Self-discipline.<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\u201cStudying a degree through distance learning, you have to have lots of self-discipline. The switch from textbooks to completely online module materials was a struggle at first as the physical reminder of books sitting to be read isn\u2019t there; that\u2019s where the self-discipline comes in.<\/p>\n

\u201cI actually enjoy studying, so I class it as a hobby! Balancing the two [work and study] becomes harder as the module intensity increases\u00a0\u2013 now I just know when I need to spend some extra time working on things and make sure to clear my evening after work. I often read for modules whilst on my lunch hour, which being online, is easy in the office. I know that I can and will get where I want to be, and I am immensely proud of my achievements.<\/p>\n

The OU has been great and I\u2019ve encouraged several people to enrol on its courses; it opens so many doors and gives you the edge in interviews, showing both dedication and determination to work and study simultaneously.\u00a0If you are considering distance learning, then I have two words for you: Do it! You\u2019ve got nothing to lose.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cI\u2019m recently engaged to my partner, Andrew; after I graduate at the end of the year, I\u2019ll finally have time to focus on our wedding.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Although a high achiever academically, Steph Lee, 27, from Newcastle, realised that instead of traditional university, she wanted to start a career and get earning. But she felt she faced discrimination along the way to her dream role in engineering. Despite this, she’s forged ahead in this sector, and has almost completed her\u00a0Bachelor of Engineering […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":7737,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28,18],"tags":[388,805,861,1320],"class_list":["post-7728","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-engineering-innovation","category-student-stories","tag-case-study","tag-engineering","tag-faculty-of-stem","tag-life-changing-learning"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7728","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7728"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7728\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7737"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7728"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7728"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7728"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}