International Women in Engineering Day
Next: June 23, 2027
Here's to the women who build.
The story
Where it comes from
International Women in Engineering Day was founded in the UK on 23 June 2014 by Dawn Bonfield, then president of the Women's Engineering Society, to mark the society's 95th anniversary. The society itself was formed in 1919 by women, many of whom had run factories and workshops during the First World War, at a time when women were being pushed out of engineering jobs once the war ended. The day began as a national campaign, received UNESCO patronage in 2016 and went international in 2017.
How it's celebrated
Governments, schools, universities, companies and engineering institutions hold events that put women engineers in the spotlight, and people share their stories online with #INWED. The aim is to show young women and girls that engineering is a great career choice with an exciting future. A simple way to join in is to thank a woman engineer you know, or to tell a girl about one.
Did you know
- The engineer Rachel Parsons was the society's first president, from 1919 to 1921.
- The aviator Amy Johnson served as president of the Women's Engineering Society in the 1930s.
- Figures for 2021 showed that only 16.5% of engineers in the UK were women.
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