To celebrate International Women in Engineering Day we're sharing individual stories of women engineers from across UKCRIC member institutions.
Tell us about your role and what you find most exciting about it.
I am currently a full Professor at the Department of Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering at University College London. It is an exciting time for me to return to academia after having spent seven years in industry. My new role is the perfect place for me to keep bridging the gap between industry, academia and policy making. My purpose is to prepare the next generation of creative problem-solvers and thought leaders.
What inspired you to become an engineer/work in the engineering sector?
Interdisciplinarity in engineering is unique. I was never a one-dimensional thinker; from an early age, I developed an interest in social and technical, cyber and physical, tangible and intangible aspects of life and our world in general. The ability to be exposed and deal with a great variety of complex socio-technical problems and systems is what I find charming about engineering.
How do you balance your professional and personal lives?
This is not necessarily a gender-related issue. Nowadays, men and women struggle with the matter equally. For me, it is not about balance, but about harmony. I organise my working day and week around how inspired and creative I feel. There are core hours during which I make myself available to students and colleagues, but I remain flexible with all other commitments and activities. I barely work at weekends. Weekends is a time for reflexion, wellbeing and personal care; this may involve me-time or spending time with my loved ones. This is an approach and a lifestyle I recommend to my students as well. Working long hours doesn’t mean you are a hard worker, it could simply mean that you are an inefficient one. It takes time to develop this mindset and requires self-awareness and conscious effort.
In your opinion is there more that can be done to encourage a greater diversity of people into engineering careers?
Higher education, even A Levels, is already too late to have a long-lasting impact and to make a noticeable change. Moreover, examples of positive discrimination are not a long-term solution either, on the contrary, they lead to imposter syndrome and feelings of diminished self-worth or self-respect; two wrongs don’t make a right, in my opinion. Education, un-learning and cultural change happens in school, this is why I think we need to engage more actively with schools to show school students the abundance and beauty of engineering. We, as academics and engineering professionals, need to highlight the diversity of thought and complex thinking engineering can offer and highlight its ever-evolving nature and impact on the natural, built and social environment. It is not always about building stuff!
What advice would you give for anyone interested in pursuing an engineering career?
Do your due diligence; make sure that the ‘as-imagined’ is not too different from the ‘as-done’. Sometimes our perception does not necessarily represent the reality, therefore understanding what engineering involves, its opportunities and challenges, is important. To achieve that, prospect engineers should attend open day events, talk to engineers, engineering students, follow engineering societies, e.g. ICE, IET, IMEchE etc., so whatever we choose to do in our careers, we need to make sure we enjoy ourselves. Only when we enjoy ourselves will we be happy professionals and fulfilled individuals as well.
Mikela Chatzimichailidou is Professor of Design for Mobility, Health, People and Society, University College London.