Barriers to women advancing in their careers, or following a particular career path, can include a lack of diverse and visible role models, as well as a shortage of professional networks to help them.
As part of International Women in Engineering Day (INWED22), Academy’s CEO, Dr Hayaatun Sillem CBE, chaired a discussion with Elspeth Finch MBE FREng, CEO of IAND, which included an audience Q&A session.
Elspeth reflected on this year's focus on innovation and the importance of inclusion in this space, sharing perspectives from her own journey.
Dr Hayaatun Silem CBE
Hayaatun has extensive leadership experience in UK and international engineering, innovation, and diversity and inclusion activities. She chairs the St. Andrews Prize for the Environment and chaired the UK government’s Innovation Expert Group and, co-chaired with Sir Lewis Hamilton his Commission on Black representation in UK motorsport. She is a trustee of EngineeringUK and the Foundation for Science & Technology; a member of the Made Smarter Commission on Industry 4.0; a director of Festival*UK 2022 Ltd; and an advisor to accelerateHER and the Lloyd’s Register Foundation. She has been named as one of the ‘Inspiring 50 Women in Tech’ and one of the most influential women in engineering. She has a Masters in Biochemistry (MBiochem) from Oxford and a PhD from Cancer Research UK/UCL. She is a Fellow of the IET and Honorary Professor at UCL. She was made a CBE for services to International Engineering in 2019. Prior to her current roles, she was Deputy CEO at the Academy and served as Committee Specialist and later Specialist Adviser to the House of Commons Science & Technology Committee.
Elspeth Finch MBE FREng
CEO and Founder, IAND