Women in Civil Engineering : The New Era

Did you know that the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge in New York, 1869 was completed by the "First Field Woman Engineer"? 

Emily Warren Roebling took over her husband Washington Roebling's responsibilities as chief engineer. She used to carry regular supervision of the project site and saw the finalization of the bridge with great commitment. 

Civil Engineering is all about creating an infrastructure to provide road, rail, bridges, harbours and airports while maintaining the sustainability of the environment. 

 

But while we are moving ahead in technology, we are still lacking behind in equality. 





“There is no sex to engineering, but there are customs, habits, and organizations of long-standing which are an initial handicap to women and require more than average ability if she is to succeed in overcoming these barriers.”

 

Civil Engineering is one of the best-paid professions worldwide. Unfortunately, only around 13% of professionals are women, according to the Bureau of Labour Statistics. Out of that, only 1.4 % of women are working in technical roles including civil engineers, structural engineers, etc. 


Despite all the numerous efforts made by government bodies and authorities to uplift the rise of women in the civil engineering profession, the social & cultural constraints are still prohibiting this contribution from rising.

 

Even then, exceptions are everywhere, one of which is of Shakuntala A. Bhagat (1933-2012), the first Female Civil Engineer of India, who graduated in 1953. She along with her husband co-founded the family-run bridge-construction company, Quadricon Pvt. Ltd., a bridge construction firm specialising in their patented prefabricated modular design.



(Shakuntala.A. Bhagat - 1933-2012)


Mrs. Bhagat worked on the designs and construction of hundreds of bridges around the world, including projects in the United States, Germany and the United Kingdom. Under Quadricon, the Bhagat couple made over 200 steel bridges, including 69 bridges from Kashmir to Arunachal Pradesh. 

 

Another face of women is Annie Sinha Roy, the country’s first and only woman tunnel engineer who is working as an assistant engineer in Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation (BMRC). In May 2015, she alone steered the tunnel boring machine. She believes women should come forward and work equally with men in all aspects. 

 

Many women have now raised the power of the female face, proving themselves better in the foremost task they have face every day at work. Roma Agrawal, a structural Engineer located in London, has worked on numerous prestigious projects including, “The Shard”, formerly known as the London Bridge Tower. She bagged “Women in Construction Awards Engineer of the Year, 2014.”

 

Even now the companies have taken the initiative to break those gender stereotypes. Larsen and Turbo (L & T), India’s largest homegrown engineering, procurement and construction company is breaking the stigma attached to women in engineering by fostering an environment that is diverse and inclusive. Women employees like Abha Seth (Exports Project Manager), Renu Gupta (Design - QA and Manufacturing) and Sindhu Nair (Chief Engineering Manager) have set examples for other female fellows to come up and contribute to this change. 

They have proved that Yes! Women are an important part in engineering. 

 

All modern societies have acknowledged that education and career are the rights of women. It is also a key factor that contributes to the social and economic development of a nation and improves the quality of life of women and their folks. 

 

“KIRAN” introduced by the Central Government of India provides career opportunities including fellowships to unemployed women technologists, especially those who had a career break, for pursuing research in frontier areas of science and engineering.

 

With this, In 2017-18, The Department of Science & Technology (DST) launched a programme 'Indo-US Fellowship for Women in STEMM' (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics & Medicine) to provide opportunities to Indian Women Scientists, Engineers & Technologists to undertake international collaborative research in premier institutions in the USA for duration of 3-6 months. 



(IIT Bhubneshwar organizing "Vigyan Jyoti-2018") 

 


Also, a new scheme "Vigyan Jyoti" was launched in 2020 for girl students of Class 9 to 12 to increase the number of women in STEMM education. 


There is no denying the fact that Women are shining in every professional field. And Yes, Civil engineering too!! It is just a matter of the choices and dreams you wish to pursue. We should aim to create a work environment where all people, regardless of their gender, feel welcome, included and supported. 

 

If we want a different future for our daughters then we need to start making changes now.









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