Naomi Climer, past president, Institution of Engineering and Technology

EGR Technology: How did you end up getting into the tech and engineering sectors?

Naomi Climer (NC): I studied science at university, but was lucky to get a graduate apprenticeship for engineering at the BBC. I realised that engineering was the career for me as soon as I started working there although it hadn’t occurred to me before. In retrospect, I realise that the signs were there as I was always attempting to build or fix things even as a child.

EGR Technology: During your time at the BBC and Sony, were there any specific initiatives to encourage more women into tech roles within these companies?

NC: The BBC’s graduate apprenticeships were designed to improve the gender diversity in engineering. As there weren’t enough women graduating with engineering degrees, the BBC widened its search and provided an accredited training course on the job. The BBC had a lot of diversity initiatives when I was there and I know they are still very active in this space now.

At Sony, I started an initiative called 50:50 where we looked at everything from recruitment to promotion and retention to try to find unconscious bias and to understand what we needed to do to achieve a more balanced workforce. Sony has similar initiatives around the world although they vary depending on culture. The IET is also very committed to diversity and inclusion and works with unions, companies, schools, parents and others to try to change perceptions and support diversity in the profession.

EGR Technology: As the first female president of the IET, do you feel like your role inspired women to take up more engineering and technical roles? Was it a landmark achievement being the first female president?

NC: It was a landmark being the first female president after 145 years and I was proud and privileged to be in the role. Actually, it all happened very naturally without any obvious issues and I had an amazing year. I don’t think that one woman in such a position shifts a profession, but I do think that having visible women at all levels of the profession including very senior is incredibly helpful. Women need to be able to look at a profession and see themselves represented at all levels if they are to feel that they can thrive and progress in their careers. Frankly, we need all technologists (not just the women) to talk more about what they’re doing and be more visible to help attract a diverse group into the profession.

EGR Technology: What are the challenges of being a woman in a male-dominated industry?

NC: There are challenges and advantages of being a woman in a male-dominated industry. I think it’s important for each person to view themselves as an individual with a range of strengths and attributes – gender is only one factor in what you can bring to the workplace, so it’s important to leverage your whole self rather than focus just on one thing. That said, I guess the biggest challenge is being able to be yourself – people are at their most powerful when they are being themselves, it’s harder to do that if you are in any type of minority when most of the people at work are different from you – you have to compromise yourself to fit in. As you get more senior, it becomes much easier to be yourself whether you’re in a minority or not!

EGR Technology: Why do you think the number of females in techie roles is still so low?

NC: This is a particularly British issue. We’re the worst in Europe and strikingly behind other territories such as China or Eastern Europe. The issue is complex (which is why we’re struggling to fix it), but there does seem to be a culture in the UK that paints a picture of technology as a very male activity. It means that women and girls grow up with the idea that technology is somehow not for them. (There are of course professions that have the same issues with an imbalance in the other direction.) It’s a big challenge to shift an entire nation’s stereotypes – I’m clear that parents, teachers and employers could all play a big role here, but it will need a sustained effort.

EGR Technology: What should companies be doing now to encourage more women in to the tech sector?

NC: Companies need to have a good look at their processes including the way they recruit, retain, pay and promote staff. They should make sure that there isn’t any accidental bias in any of these activities. Organisations that have had some success in attracting more women have found that their brand image has a significant impact on whether women feel like this is a company that they’d fit into. This isn’t just the language of the recruitment ad, but their whole image, how they advertise, what’s on their website etc. Network Rail is a great example of this where you’ll see that their posters and website have diverse images. It has made a difference.

EGR Technology: What advice would you give to young women who are considering technology as a career?

NC: In the world of artificial intelligence and automation that is just emerging, technology is one career where you can be pretty confident that you’ll always find a job! A career in technology gives you a really broad range of opportunities – from research to operations, from working on things that make this world a better place to tackling something that’ll make a difference to one person – there’s a rich variety of opportunity in just about every industry from fashion to space exploration. So if you’re considering a career in technology, I can wholeheartedly recommend it as a fabulous career!