Best Woman Civil Engineer & The Most Distinguished Winner Of 2017
RACHEL SKINNER Executive Director, Head of Development – WSP
I have to admit that it took me a few hours to spot the email that dropped into my inbox to let me know that I was a WICE finalist, as I was busy finishing some slides before presenting at an industry conference that afternoon. This was followed by a few days off during the March school holiday, when the news began to sink in and I found a moment to read my nomination form with fresh eyes. At that point, my excitement and pride started to build, as did my interest in the many finalists across all of the categories. The judging process was fascinating, not just because of the chance to meet people from such a range of roles across the industry but also because, in itself, it was strong evidence of the number of women working in responsible roles who thoroughly deserve proper recognition for the difference they are making. Today, I bumped into the daughter of a friend who is in the middle of her A-levels. We talked briefly about how she's really struggling with what she wants to do in life. My advice to her? The same as I give to everyone: go with what you enjoy the most and something that genuinely interests you, and leave behind any sense of worry about whether your choice today has a clear route-map to a certain future career path. If you love what you do and jump into it with enthusiasm, you should have confidence that a solid career path will unfold in front of you. I wish that someone had said this to me, but with hindsight it is exactly how I ended up with a 1st class Geography degree and it's also why I fell into – and then stayed – in the industry having only intended to join for a few months before making a 'real' career decision.
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THE EUROPEAN WOMEN IN CONSTRUCTION & ENGINEERING AWARDS >> MAY 2017
I look back now and wonder if there was an exact point when I really became an engineer (perhaps when I completed my MSc(Eng)? Or chartership? Or fellowship?) and then I look ahead to 2020 when I will become the youngest ever President of the Institution of Civil Engineers, and I begin to realise that perhaps I have always been an engineer at heart. I love the idea of finding ways to making life better for people and I have always had a keen interest in understanding how things work. Being a woman in the industry for nearly twenty years and having been actively engaged with the gender 'issue' for nearly as long, I suspect that it also helps that I have never minded being different, as long as I'm doing something I enjoy and believe in. That said, I can't wait for the day when we are judged simply as great people in construction and engineering, rather than as women. With such a broad range of roles on offer and so much change that creates endless headroom for talented people to shine, there really is something for everyone. I feel very strongly that we mustn't underestimate our collective power to make this change – or the role that each of us is already playing to create a more diverse, relevant and attractive industry for today and tomorrow, for all the right reasons. I will close by passing on the advice given to me by one of my children on the evening before the judging day. She showed wisdom well beyond her seven-and-a-half years when she said, very seriously, "Mummy, just make sure you're very, very nice to the judges, then maybe they'll let you win!"