Breaking down stereotypes to support women in engineering

Mentorship and promoting diversity are key to growing the number of women in the field, explains Engineering Professor Dr. Sumi Siddiqua

“When someone tells me what I’m working on is a ‘man’s thing’ and I shouldn’t be doing it, I know that’s precisely what I should do,” explains Dr. Sumi Siddiqua, a professor at UBC Okanagan.

Civil engineering is one of those things.

Despite having her choice of any undergraduate engineering field she wanted to enter, Dr. Siddiqua chose civil—a traditionally male-dominated industry focused on construction. At the time, she was one of only five females in a civil engineering class of 60.

Twenty years later, she says the situation hasn’t changed enough.

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