Celebrating International Women in Engineering Day: Empowering Women in STEM and Ensuring Workplace Health and Safety

International Women in Engineering Day (INWED) is an annual celebration of the remarkable achievements of women in the field of engineering and a promotion of gender diversity and inclusivity in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields. This year's theme, ‘Make Safety Seen’, highlights the crucial role that women play in ensuring safe working environments.

Here at Bouygues Energies & Services (Bouygues E&S), we recognise the significance of women's contributions to the industry and actively support the professional development of all our employees. Furthermore, we remain deeply committed to health and safety (H&S) as our number one priority and understand that maintaining safety across our broad range of fields would be impossible without the women in our industry. For INWED, we’re sharing how we embed these two principles of empowering women in STEM and promoting H&S in the workplace firmly into our culture.

Our employee-led women’s network, WOMEN Together, which is run jointly by Bouygues E&S and our Equans colleagues, plays a vital role in supporting, promoting, and empowering the women within our business, and focuses on Wellbeing, Opportunities, Mentoring, Empower and Network. To celebrate INWED, the network hosted three enlightening panel discussions during the week in partnership with Bouygues Construction in the UK’s women’s network WeLink UK and Bouygues Group participants from different parts of the world. The first panel focused on health and safety, welcoming a group of accomplished leaders, all women, who have dedicated their careers to this critical field. Their experiences and expertise shed light on the challenges and triumphs they encountered and how they supported other women to succeed in this industry along the way.

The second panel discussion delved into the experiences of women working in the construction and engineering industry. It provided a platform for participants to share their unique perspectives based on intergenerational differences, fostering an environment of knowledge sharing and mentorship. This panel not only celebrated the challenges and achievements of women in the industry but also emphasised the importance of championing health and safety, nurturing talent and supporting the professional growth of women at all stages of their careers.

Fiona McCallum, Regional Health & Safety Manager at Bouygues E&S, was one of the women invited to speak on the panel. She shared: “I firmly believe that women are a vital and indispensable part of creating a safe and healthy workplace. It was fantastic to join this panel of accomplished colleagues to share our insights on the multifaceted nature of H&S and highlight the importance of proactive measures, risk assessment, and fostering a culture of safety within Bouygues E&S. Our discussions sparked meaningful conversations about what it is to be a woman in this profession, how we can champion the role of women in H&S, and the importance of diversity.”

The final panel discussion was centred around the crucial concept of allyship. Colleagues from across the Bouygues group who actively champion and support women in the workplace shared their experiences and insights, highlighting the significance of allyship and the importance of mentoring. Combined, these panels provided an opportunity for Bouygues employees across the world from different business units, to engage with colleagues, reflect on their own experiences, and gain valuable insights into various aspects of the industry.

Amelle Mestari, Director of Procurement & Sustainable Development and Co-Chair of the WOMEN Together network, was instrumental in organising these three impactful panels. She reflected: “I’m delighted to have been able to support these panels, which provided our employees with a platform to engage, reflect, and learn. They each underscored the importance of INWED and the role of women and allies alike in driving positive change in the field of H&S and beyond. By fostering connections and sharing knowledge, we can maintain a safe working environment in which women can thrive and excel. These panels are testament to Bouygues E&S’ longstanding commitment to supporting a future with H&S and diversity at the forefront.”

To further honour INWED, Bouygues E&S continued our delivery of our social value initiative, the Girls Believe Academy. Founded in 2021, the Girls Believe Academy encourages young women to explore career opportunities in the construction and engineering industry through delivering engaging and interactive presentations to schools across the country. Last week, Bouygues E&S representatives delivered presentations to six schools in London and Liverpool, introducing female students to the diverse range of roles within the built environment and challenging common myths and stereotypes that can act as barriers to women entering the industry.

Diana Ciobotaru, Regional Service Manager at Bouygues E&S and project lead of the Girls Believe Academy, shared: "It's fantastic to witness the continued success of the Girls Believe Academy. Many of our ambassadors share that they may have begun their STEM journey earlier if they'd known more about the exciting opportunities our industry had to offer sooner, highlighting the real importance of female role-models sharing their experience of the built environment sector first-hand to female students. I'm so grateful to the school leaders and our in-house ambassadors who have joined us on the journey to inspire the next generation of talent and help promote opportunities for women in the industry. We couldn't do this without their continued passion and support."

David Carr, CEO for Equans Technical Services and Bouygues Energies and Services FM , concluded:

'INWED is the day to celebrate all our women at Bouygues who have joined the Construction and Engineering industry: Thank you.

As a newly appointed sponsor of our WOMEN Together network, I was delighted to join 3 webinars last week where our panellists from different entities around the world shared their varied backgrounds, experiences and advice on our diverse and vibrant industry.

This is also a call to our younger female generations: by joining the Construction and Engineering world, you will discover diverse roles and opportunities, globally!'