Around International Women in Engineering Day it’s the ideal time to discuss how we can encourage more women to work and progress in engineering. Although there have been some diversity initiatives across the engineering sector in recent years, sadly it still remains very much a male-dominated environment. Less than 30% of engineering graduates are women and even more shocking in the semiconductor industry, where I work, less than 5% of leadership positions are held by women. Something obviously needs to change and I believe that mentoring could have a significant role to play.
I have been working in the engineering and semiconductor space for over 30 years. At university there were very few women in my classes. This added extra pressure, but I was determined that engineering was the career for me. After studying for a master’s degree in electronics engineering, my first job was as a Design Engineer for VLSI Technology, an American company with a division in the South of France. It was a very fulfilling role. I was chasing to achieve 0ps violations in my timing reports, re-writing my RTL to enable good test coverage or better timing and writing Perl scripts to automate my design flows from RTL synthesis to layout completion, as well as running RC extraction and developing behavioural models of the DSP. I enjoyed the process of trying to find the root cause of problems in order to be able to implement the right technical solutions.
However, after a few years I realized I wanted a change and another challenge. I wanted to understand the bigger picture and see what was going on behind the scenes. What was the benefit of me spending my late evenings removing all the timing violations? Why was this last MHz so important for the business? I was lucky that I had a great manager who listened to me, identified my strengths and saw that I was suited for a more commercially focused role. I will always be very grateful to this mentor who gave me the confidence to step outside of my comfort zone and helped me to get where I am today.
I believe that mentoring programs are key for encouraging more women to learn about different roles in engineering, gain management skills and seek leadership positions. That’s why I am involved with the Global Semiconductor Alliance GSA Women’s Leadership Initiative, which is committed to empowering women across the global semiconductor industry. This organization creates impactful mentoring programs and arranges networking events that encourage open discussions and offer support. These also aim to highlight the achievements of women who have navigated the semiconductor careers ladder and demonstrate that there are interesting opportunities out there for women in electronics engineering.
I feel it is very important to showcase successful female engineering leaders in the semiconductor sector. It would be great to see more women in senior positions sharing their expertise and experiences within their organizations, as well as at STEM, careers and industry events. Role models are needed to inspire the younger generation of emerging female engineers so that they don’t think of a career in engineering as a daunting challenge, but as the new normal.
I have been fortunate in my career to have had great managers who encouraged me to take on more responsibility. With the right backing or mentor (male or female) it is possible to achieve much more than you think. I find that the semiconductor sector is such an interesting place to work. We see cutting-edge electronic devices that are changing everyday lives. Applications such as AI, IoT, healthcare sensors and automotive safety systems have all been made possible by advances in semiconductors. There are innovative semiconductor companies, like Agile Analog, developing novel technology. It is fast-paced and fun – so you never have a dull day! I am very glad to be a woman working in this industry today and I would like more women to be part of this exciting age of engineering.
To me this quote by the UN Secretary-General António Guterres sums things up well: “We can all do our part to unleash our world’s enormous untapped talent – starting with filling classrooms, laboratories and boardrooms with women scientists.” Increasing the number of female engineers may start with encouraging girls to enjoy science at school, but they need to be inspired to follow engineering as a career and then to apply for leadership positions. That’s where mentors and networking can really make such a difference.