Welcome to Women in Engineering

“Being a problem solver is the most important personal competency for a successful career in engineering”

“Strong communication, project management, analytical and design skills are as important as maths understanding for the modern engineer”

“Parents and school teachers can do more to break down the societal barriers to girls studying subjects that support careers in engineering”

52.4% of all female Irish Engineers in the age range 26-35 received a pay increase in the past 3 years

Female Irish Engineers are twice as likely to pursue a Masters Degree

The School of Engineering at NUI Galway is proud of its long history of graduating successful female Engineers. In fact, Alice Perry, the first woman to receive a degree in Engineering in either Ireland or the United Kingdom graduated me from this University in 1906, top of her class in Civil Engineering. Our new Engineering Building was officially named the Alice Perry Engineering Building on March 6th 2017, in recognition of Alice as a role model and inspiration for staff, students and visitors.

Today, approximately 16% of our Undergraduate students in Engineering are female, and we are happy to see that this number is increasing year by year. These female students have chosen to study Biomedical Engineering, Civil EngineeringProject and Construction Management, Electrical & Electronic EngineeringElectronic and Computer Engineering, Energy SystemsInformation Technology or Mechanical Engineering.

But we are not there yet, 16% is still too low and we are confident that there are many problem-solving, innovating young women who would be perfectly suited to Engineering. Thus the School of Engineering is actively participating in the University’s mission “to foster a vibrant community of students and staff where distinguished learning, impactful research, and creative thinking are shared with the world.” Students, researchers and academics are working collaboratively on a number of outreach programmes and initiatives to provide information to school children about the career of Engineers. Our female graduates are truly inspirational, and this webpage gives information about some of our successful graduates working in exciting roles across the world.

Key Facts

18%

of students entering into Engineering in 2016 were female

22%

of First class Honours Degree in 2016 were by females

29%

of class representatives were females; only 18% are female students