Summary

The author, a civil engineer, reflects on her unexpected journey into engineering, influenced by early misconceptions, her rebellious nature, and the evolving role of women in the field.

Abstract

The author shares a personal narrative about her path to becoming a civil engineer, a profession she once misunderstood due to her interest in adventure books that depicted engineers as men laboring in ship engine rooms. Despite her initial aspiration to be a vet and a tomboyish childhood spent in the African bush, she found herself in civil engineering without a deliberate choice. Throughout her career, she has enjoyed memorable experiences in Africa and England, challenging the outdated notion of engineering as a man's world. On International Women's Day, she acknowledges the progress women have made in the field and considers documenting her engineering stories, emphasizing that women can excel in any career while also being mothers and homemakers.

Opinions

The author initially perceived engineers as men working in grueling conditions, influenced by adventure novels.
She rejects the idea of "a man's book," advocating for the freedom to read whatever one chooses.
The author did not intentionally pursue a career in engineering but has come to appreciate the experiences it has offered.
She dismisses the notion that her career choice was an act of bravery, viewing it simply as her job.
The author believes that women have successfully demonstrated their ability to balance careers in any field with motherhood and homemaking.
She suggests that the achievements of women in traditionally male-dominated fields, such as engineering, should be celebrated, especially on International Women's Day.

I never knew what a civil engineer was — until I became one

If you’d asked Teenage Me, “What’s an engineer?” I would’ve told you it was someone sweaty. Someone who wears overalls folded down and tied around the waist while he’s laboring in the heat and the oil down in the bowels of a ship.

It was authors like Nicholas Monsarrat and Brian Callison, who at the time rated high on my reading list for their suspense-loaded tales of sea battles and torpedoed ships, who were responsible for this completely blinkered idea of the engineering profession.

Yes, so I was a bit of a rebel and I was a tomboy. Is that a term you’re still allowed to use or is it no longer PC?

I wore shorts instead of dresses, I climbed trees, I played with toy cars and plastic animals instead of dolls and I wandered for hours alone in the African bush with my dogs. And my mother’s friends were openly alarmed by my choice of reading matter. The daughter of one of them once asked me outright, “Why are you reading a man’s book?” after observing me with my nose in A Flock of Ships.

What is a man’s book then?

I couldn’t then, and still can’t, come up with an answer to that, except maybe something like, “I’ll read whatever I want to read, thank you very much.”

So there were my engineers, all of them men, all down in a sort of hell that was the engine room, endeavoring to coax their mighty machines to carry their ship out of danger, but the career prospects of this went right by me. I wanted to become a vet.

Photos by author — Montage created by author

I didn’t.

I found myself in the world of civil engineering with no real, considered choice on my part. But it’s been okay. I’ve clocked up countless memorable experiences in both Africa and England and actually enjoyed most of the work along the way.

I guess Mum’s friend’s daughter would ask, “Why are you doing a man’s job?”

I set up a website and I called it Diaries of a Non-Diarist because I’ve never kept a diary but I got this unprecedented urge to record steps in a major life change. I don’t exactly have some momentous reason for wanting to do this because people up-sticks and move from one country to another all the time — and it’s actually the second time I’ve done it — but the idea persisted. Being a non-diarist, however, means I’ve never bothered to take the time to document any of these memorable engineering experiences.

I’ve been told (yes, by the parents’ friends) that I’m brave for being a “woman in a man’s world” but that was a while ago and it’s no longer true to say that any form of engineering is a man’s world. I wasn’t being brave anyway — what’s brave about it? It’s just my job.

Women have proved that they can successfully be both mothers and homemakers AND hold a career in any field.

We should celebrate this. We can be whatever we want. It’s International Women’s Day after all.

And maybe I should take some time to write up some engineering stories?

#internationalwomensday

#womeninengineering