A Guide to INWED: #EnhancedbyEngineering
International Women in Engineering Day (INWED) 2024 is an annual global event that celebrates women’s achievements in engineering, supports female engineers in their careers and promotes diversity, inclusion and equality within engineering.
Read on to find out more about the theme of this year’s event, its history and how you can get involved.
What is International Women in Engineering Day?
International Women in Engineering Day is an international awareness campaign which raises the profile of women working in engineering and highlights the many exciting career opportunities available to women and girls in the industry.
Like women in construction, engineering has a history of female under-representation. In 2022 the percentage of women compared to men working in engineering in the UK was estimated to be around 16%. This is much higher than it has been in the past but is still much lower than it has the potential to be.
The Women’s Engineering Society (WES) launched INWED in the UK as a national campaign in 2014 to celebrate the Society’s 95th anniversary. In 2017, INWED went international – becoming the world’s biggest initiative celebrating the achievements of women in engineering and allied roles.
Comprised of webinars, interactive activities, Q&A sessions, workshops, virtual site tours, competitions and much more across five continents, the truly global event plays a vital role in encouraging more women to take up engineering careers.
Find out more about INWED.
Women’s Engineering Society
The Women’s Engineering Society (WES) is the oldest professional UK body for women in engineering, established in 1919. The First World War had seen more women working in engineering than ever before, with so many men in the armed forces. The Society’s main aim at the time was to ensure that women remained in these roles during peacetime and increase the opportunities for women to work in engineering.
Today the WES is a thriving network of women engineers, scientists and technologists. The Society runs events, provides mentors for young female engineers, advocates for increased diversity within engineering and promotes the opportunities available for women in engineering. By working with partners in the industry, its core goals are to offer support, inspiration and professional development to women in the industry.
#INWED 2024
When is International Women in Engineering Day 2024?
International Women in Engineering Day is taking place on Sunday 23rd June 2024. Events are being held from 21-24 June. Find out about the latest events on the INWED website.
What is the theme for #INWED24 ?
Each year INWED activity is focused on a topical theme and this year it is ‘Enhanced by Engineering’.
This means that INWED will be celebrating the amazing work that women in engineering are doing to improve the lives and livelihoods of people each and every day. This could mean technology that has helped someone with accessibility needs or has led, for example, to a major development in healthcare or sustainability.
On June 24th the winners of the Society’s Top 50 Women in Engineering 2024: Enhanced by Engineering poll will be announced. This is an annual UK competition organised to coincide with INWED, and judges entries on the theme of ‘Enhanced by Engineering’. Female engineers who work in the UK are eligible to submit entries.
Changing the future for female engineering
The mission of INWED is to celebrate the achievements of female engineers, raise the profile of women in engineering and inspire the next generation of women and girls who want to work in engineering. INWED measures its success by its media coverage, its social media engagement and the take-up it attracts for its resources. Ultimately, the ambition of INWED is to increase the number of female engineers working in the industry.
The impact of International Women in Engineering Day 2023
Last year’s INWED was one of the most successful in the event’s history. The theme was ‘Make Safety Seen’, and the campaign certainly increased its own visibility, with an estimated global social media reach of 782 million people around the world. More than 200 news stories were generated, with the BBC and New Scientist among the publications, websites and channels reporting on the event. There was social media coverage from major organisations such as McLaren F1, the Royal Academy of Engineering, the UK Space Agency, the RNLI and the Met Office.
Get involved with INWED and #EnhancedByEngineering
In the lead-up to International Women in Engineering Day, and on the day itself, why not share your engineering stories on social media? Use the hashtags #INWED24 and #EnhancedByEngineering, and include @INWED1919 on your tweets and Instagram posts.
Make sure you are following the Women’s Engineering Society on X (formerly known as Twitter) and Instagram to get the latest on what is happening.