United Utilities helps lead the way for women in engineering

United Utilities is beating the national average when it comes to employing women engineers.

Ahead of International Women in Engineering Day, the water company for the North West is celebrating its women engineers who are using their skills to enhance people’s everyday lives and build a brighter future.

And with almost a quarter of roles in the engineering area of the business filled by women – compared to a national average of 16.5% - the company is proud to be ahead of the game.

Joanne Rands Head of Engineering at United Utilities explained: “We have fantastic accredited graduate training schemes for engineering graduates and recruit brilliant talent. I’m proud that in our engineering business 24% of our roles are filled by women.

“That’s not to say there isn’t a long way to go, but it is encouraging that we are well ahead of the national average.”

Joanne, from Bollington in Cheshire, grew up in the valleys of South Wales and had a fascination with bridges and understanding how things worked. She explained: “I spent a lot of time as a child taking things apart, and not always being able to put them back together, I always wanted to know how things worked. Nowadays I’m proud to be part of a team developing solutions that will drive improvements now and into the future.

“I was always good at maths and science at school and when I did my A levels I decided I wanted to study chemical engineering. At the time a careers teacher advised me that as a woman I should stick to science and avoid engineering. Fortunately, the world of careers advice has changed for young women!”

Now Joanne leads a team of 300 people, and her role sees her getting involved in anything and everything that requires technical input – whether that is advising on large scale engineering projects or supporting United Utilities’ innovation programme to find solutions for current and future challenges.

Keen to encourage more women to consider a career in engineering, Joanne added: “The world of engineering is so diverse and fascinating. Here at United Utilities, we are set to begin our biggest ever investment programme which is going to deliver environmental benefits across our region, it is exciting to be a part of that and it will create employment opportunities in engineering.

“Engineers are problem solvers, which mean we make a difference to the world. If you enjoy maths, science and STEM subjects it makes no difference if you are male or female. Engineering also opens lots of other doors into other careers like project management.”

If you think a career in engineering could be for you, visit United Utilities’ careers page.