On International Women in Engineering Day 2025
I’ve written about my journey as a curious working class Newcastle girl to Chair of the House of Commons Science, Innovation and Technology Select Committee
We need more women in engineering because we need more and better engineering in the world Read my blog:
Engineering change by Chi Onwurah, Chair of the House of Commons Science, Innovation and Technology Select Committee
On International Women in Engineering Day, I’m reflecting on my own journey that began in Newcastle, where I was a curious girl who loved maths and wanted to understand how the world worked. I never imagined I’d one day chair Parliament’s Science, Innovation and Technology Select Committee.
Certainly not when I entered Imperial College London in 1984 and found an atmosphere which could best be described as a boy’s public school debating society. I was told I was part of an advance guard of what would soon be an army of female engineers, that engineering would become increasingly gender balanced. It didn’t quite work out that way.
I had a great career as an Engineer, working all over the world, designing the world’s first double sided surface mount PABX (private automatic branch exchange) board, and building Nigeria’s first mobile phone network. But as a working engineer, I was so often the only woman, the only person of colour, the only working-class person, the only Northerner in the room.
Now, in Parliament and in my role as Chair, I want to ensure that exciting careers in science and innovation are accessible for everyone. That means asking tough questions, championing diversity and making sure government policy is grounded in evidence and ambition.
We face enormous challenges – climate change, AI, health – but also incredible opportunities. We need more women in engineering – not just to balance the numbers, but because diverse perspectives lead to better solutions. Diversity does matter. It is not a tick box exercise. It is an economic imperative. Without it, innovation is stifled, and valuable talent is excluded from the workforce. On this day, I celebrate the women who are breaking barriers, building futures, and engineering change.
Let’s keep pushing forward.
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