Helen Dows
Helen Dows who lectures in BTEC Engineering Level 3 and HNC/D Engineering preparing young people for careers in the Corby area which gain like Weetabix, RS and Tata.
Helen was something of an early pioneer of women in engineering having started work in 1986 at what was then called Vickers Shipbuilding and Engineering.
“I wanted to join the Royal Navy but women weren’t allowed on board in those days, luckily things have moved on in so many ways,” said Helen who also worked for Copes-Vulcan Ltd on giant steam valves for power stations.
Now she is encouraging young women of the 2020s to consider well-paid and worthwhile careers in engineering. One of her former students has just joined in the MOD to pursue her dream of life in the military now women are welcome.
Ayesha Iqbal
Course Manager in Engineering at the Advanced Engineering Centre in Bedford, Ayesha Iqbal, aged 33, arrived in the UK from Pakistan in 2020 expecting to find her classroom at least a third full of females. Sadly she has been surprised, given the equality of opportunities, that not more young women are leaving school to be engineers.
“When I was lecturing in university in Pakistan many more of my students were young women who saw engineering as valuable career. I hope to motivate more here in this region of the UK to sign up for this important and valuable sector.
“The female students I taught in Pakistan are also teaching now as and are working for different companies in different industries. I want to encourage females to become engineers and work in research and teaching.”
