Manufacturers Empowering The Engineering Talent Of Women
It's common knowledge that there are global employment fields where women are significantly underrepresented. Manufacturing is one such field, an extremely male-dominated sector where women navigate extensive barriers.
The barriers begin with education. While the number of women pursuing STEM subjects in higher education has increased, they're still a minority. This is prominent in the engineering field.
- According to the Society Of Women Engineers (SWE), the world's largest advocate for women in engineering, only 13% of engineers in the United States are women.
- In 1966, only 2.6% of US women graduated with engineering degrees. In 2019, that number was 21.9% and today it's even higher.
- EngineeringUK found that In 2010, 562,000 women worked in engineering roles; by 2021, this had increased to 936,000.
- Representation of women in STEM remains low across the Asia Pacific Region, comprising around 23.9% of researchers.
- According to the European Commission, 41% of the engineers in EU countries are women.
- The European Commission also reported that in 2022, this number was 53% in Denmark, 51% in Bulgaria, 52% in Lithuania and 34% in Germany.
- According to UNESCO, women in the Middle East and North Africa are graduating with engineering degrees at higher rates than in the United States.
- This is especially pronounced in the Gulf States, where women buck the gender divide- compromising 60% of engineering students.
- Fuelling this is government-backed initiatives like for example, the Saudi Government's Vision2030 which seeks to increase women's engineering presence.
How else can women's presence in engineering be increased? One method is to showcase meaningful representation and celebrate female engineers who are making a difference in the field.
To do so, lets examine Linxens, a global manufacturer of security and identification in the smartcard, eGovernment and Internet of Things (IoT) market. 55% of Linxens employees are women.
To date, women account for 23% of the engineering workforce. This percentage is higher than the worldwide average of 16.5% of women engineers in all industries.
At Linxens, the engineering function also encompasses a variety of job categories, including R&D, quality, engineering and manufacturing. Here are four senior female engineers at the manufacturer who are leading teams, overseeing operations and making a major difference.
1. Jasmin Helen Müller, Head of Quality at Linxens Dresden (Germany)
Jasmin Helen Müller is the Head of the Quality Department at Linxens Dresden in Germany, leading a team of seven people.
She studied production engineering in Dresden and completed her thesis at Linxens, where she currently works as an expert quality engineer with a track record of delivering exceptional product quality and reliability.
Her career began in the production of pacemaker batteries before she returned to Linxens to oversee customer, project, supplier and internal quality. She is committed to fostering further engineering talent and delivering excellent, consistent results.
2. Melanie Yong, Head of Department - Industrialisation of Tape Products Linxens Smartcard (Singapore)
Melanie Yong is the Head of Industrialisation for Tape Products at Linxens Smartcard Singapore. Experienced at managing surface finishing, solder masking and electroplating processes for printed circuit boards, she first joined Linxens in 2020 as Section Manager for Wet Processes and Industrialisation Engineering.
Since then, she's flourished in her career development, being promoted to her current position in 2023.
Melanie has a Master's Degree in Chemistry, and her daily responsibilities include managing cross-functional teams in technology implementation and new product development whilst leading smartcard tape technical qualification projects.
3. Helena Berg, Managing Director of Linxens Healthcare (Sweden)
Helena Berg is the Managing Director of Linxens Healthcare in Sweden.
A passionate and deeply accomplished leader, she moved to the healthcare industry after a successful six-year-long career in the aviation industry, where she contributed to critical projects for the Swedish Air Force.
With her strategic vision and leadership, Helena oversees the company's operation whilst providing insight and direction to the Board of Directors.
4. Sévérine Gomont, Production Manager at Linxens (France)
Sévérine Gomont is Linxens Production Manager at their Mantes site in Yvelines, France.
With over twenty years of experience at the company, she manages the quality, efficiency and effectiveness of the manufacturer's production process.
She held various management positions before this role in engineering and R&D and is a recognised expert in polymer chemistry and chemical engineering.
"We believe that diversity, in its broadest sense, is a key driver of performance, innovation and competitiveness, " Said Patrick Roux, Executive Vice-President, Chief People Officer & Communications at Linxens.
"We work every day to promote diversity and inclusion within our teams, creating role models and encouraging young women to take an interest in our technical professions from an early age. We are convinced that this choice will be beneficial both for their careers and for the growth of this industry, which is so important in today's interconnected world."
As positive representations of women in manufacturing grow their entrance into the industry will grow too. It's vitally needed, to enhance the diversity of perspectives in the field and to help address the looming employment gap.
The four professionals above embody the theme of this year's International Women in Engineering Day which is held by the Women in Engineering Society: enhanced by engineering.
The day will profile more women in the engineering sector, who across industries like manufacturing have #Enhancedbyengineering the environments, prospects and people around them.
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