The world of engineering has historically been male dominated, but times are changing. Women like Jwan Kamla, a senior road safety engineer at Jacobs are breaking barriers and making significant contributions to the industry. In this feature, we delve into Jwan's personal journey as she shares her experiences, challenges, and triumphs as a woman in engineering. Her story highlights the importance of diversity, equal opportunities, and the need for visible female role models in the sector.

Jwan’s path to engineering was unexpected but turned out to be a fortunate accident. Despite initially aspiring to study medicine, she found herself pursuing civil engineering due to her exceptional academic performance. Once completing her BSc degree in Civil Engineering in 2004 she ranked within the top five and this enabled her to work at the university as a Civil/Highway Engineer and as Assistant Lecturer she was studying at in Kurdistan.

Jwan then went on to study for master’s degree in Civil Engineering two to three years length full time and as part of her research on traffic characteristics she spent a lot of time working on site. Following this she completed a PhD on road safety engineering in the UK at the university of Nottingham, with the aim of helping make our roads safer.  During her PhD she significantly extended her knowledge through stakeholder engagement, visiting industry for research work and presenting at international conferences. This expanded Jwan’s vision and was one of the main factors for deciding to join the industry. At the same time there was a war taking place in the area where Jwan is originally from, so this was another reason that impacted her decision. As such, she left academia and joined the industry in 2017. 

The transition from academia to industry wasn’t easy due to the shift in work culture however Jwan took on the challenge and found it very rewarding to work as a road safety engineer and making a difference in saving lives on our roads. In addition, Jwan believes that industry provides opportunity for improving soft skills through collaboration and team working, and the opportunity to work with different people having different background experience.  

With 2021 figures indicating that in the UK only 16.5% of engineers are women Jwan believes it is a collective responsibility of parents, companies, and organizations in encouraging more girls and women to pursue engineering. She said “it is everyone’s responsibility starting from parents then organisations and companies.  There is a shortage of engineering skill in the UK and some good effort needed from parents, companies, and organisations in finding ways to improve that.”

Jwan suggests using collaboration with schools to encourage children into STEM from a young age will introduce pupils to the world of engineering and the career opportunities available within it. She mentions “One of the great initiatives is that CIHT digitised STEM activities that ambassadors and teachers across the UK can download and use to inspire the next generation.”

In the traditionally male-dominated field of engineering, women are increasingly making their mark and challenging societal norms. Their contributions to the engineering sector, particularly in road safety engineering, are invaluable. Jwan highlights the importance of retaining female engineers by treating them equally in the workplace. She went on to say “treating women equally, providing a balanced gender, diverse and equal cultural workplace is the most attractive way to retain woman engineers effectively. Provide them the support they need towards career progression, offering them more leadership roles.”

The other thing that Jwan mentioned was “the importance of supporting one another in the workforce”. Jwan was supported by CIHT’s past president Deborah Sims for her application to CIHT Fellow membership. Deborah approached Jwan and provided her with the support she needed. This is an example of why having visible female role models in the sector is so important. Role models give a dynamic influence on fellow female colleagues through providing support and guidance.

Jwan emphasizes the significance of initiatives that help give women visibility in the sector. She said “CIHT also have great initiatives to spread the word, reduce gender bias and recognising the woman in the sector. Celebrating woman in engineering on annual basis. An example is the lunch of the CIHT EDI strategy ‘Shifting the dial’: 5-year equality, diversity & inclusion strategy with the aim of break the bias.

During the 18 years of Jwan’s career (Academia and Industry), Jwan also encountered challenges in the sector because of her gender. She has found that communication was key to overcoming any gender bias and having an attitude of success along with perseverance and passion for her work has allowed her to overcome any challenges.

Jwan’s story is encouraging for all young girls of any background thinking about starting a career in engineering. Drawing from her experiences, Jwan provides valuable advice for those interested in road safety engineering or considering an engineering qualification is to “work hard, be wise, strong and be independent, search and investigate, and be the one who go after solving the problem.”

Find out how you can get involved with International Women in Engineering Day here.