Published on 15 March 2018
When broadcast engineer Angela Stevenson tells you what she does for a living, do not be surprised.
Despite the statistics – just one in 10 UK engineers is currently female – University of Sunderland graduate Angela never considered another career.
And the Wearside woman is keen to make sure engineers of the future are free from any gender stereotypes.
That’s why she is working to inspire schoolchildren into the job she never doubted she would one day have – despite what everyone said.
‘What is it like to be a female engineer?’
“It’s a question only asked by adults and for many years one I was unequipped to answer,” says Angela, who passes on her message to the younger generation as part of her job with the BBC in MediaCity.
“My work in schools is hugely influenced by the first time I was asked this question.
“I was a teenager working on live sound with engineers I hoped were willing to work with me despite my youth and inexperience.
“A woman approached my colleagues to express delight at seeing a female engineer. In that moment I feared my dream would no longer come true as those I wanted to work with would see me differently and have reason not to believe in my ability.
“When I first visited schools I was disappointed to experience this again in the way teachers presented me to their students.
“I now brief schools to present me as an engineer they are unsurprised to see in order that female students consider my career a realistic prospect for themselves.”
This year is the UK’s ‘Year of Engineering’, aiming to tackle the engineering skills gap and widen the pool of young people joining the profession.
Slowly, the number of girls taking up engineering is rising. Last year saw a one percentage point increase in girls studying science, technology, engineering and mathematics (Stem) subjects at A-Level, rising from 34% to 35%.
Currently in the UK, just one in 10 engineers is female, the lowest rate in Europe.
But such statistics were meaningless to a young Sunderland girl who grew up knowing exactly what she wanted to do.
Angela said: “My personality arrived young, from asking Father Christmas for hi-fi separates to always carrying a children’s encyclopaedia.
“Looking back I have no recollection of knowing society projected stereotypes onto little girls.
“Certainly I was protected from the thoughts of a small minority of adults but I didn’t see myself as different to other children. My sister had a doll - I made a house for it. My best friend had a toy robot, it was the central participant of all games.”
Visiting a drama summer club as a teenager, Angela recalls how the older children had a ‘radio station’.
“Already being an expert at editing the Radio 1 Top 40 on a twin cassette deck, I couldn’t wait to join,” says Angela.
“I can recall in technicolour the day my membership was arranged. During a visit to the ‘studio’ (really repurposed theatre sound equipment) I knew I’d found the place I could be something that felt incredibly important even before I had the words to describe it.”
Aged 16, Angela joined Nissan in Sunderland as a modern apprentice before the car giant helped see her through her BA in Computer Studies via evening classes and distance learning.
Between 2007 and 2008, Angela studied for her MA in Radio Production and Management at the University of Sunderland before joining the BBC.
Her strong belief that anything is possible is something Angela is now keen to pass on when she speaks to school children.
She said: “These young people are looking for the clues in their own life which will determine a career choice.
“It is a huge honour to be trusted to help young people answer their own career questions and I remember vividly finding my own answers.
“When I was at Monkwearmouth School in Sunderland the BBC brought an exhibition of its technologies to a sports hall in Newcastle.
“My family went to the exhibition and I met engineers who showed their future predictions of media, video on demand, decades before iPlayer came into being.
“This event made a significant impression. In the earliest days of personal computing and dial up modems I understood the impact the internet was going to have on media and instantly I wanted to be part of it.
“Many years later, I asked my parents when they knew I’d be an engineer. Their answer; “always, probably from being a toddler, definitely many years before the BBC exhibition visited”.”
When talking to school children, Angela introduces engineering as one example of a career choice that some might make, but maintains that finding a career they each love is her ultimate hope for their future.
She added: “I support mixed group activities as the opinions of future male engineers are equally crucial to change.
“They too need to see me as an engineer who achieved what they should expect is possible of all their classmates. What is rare in one generation we must ensure is commonplace in the next.”
So what can we do to address the gender gap?
“To this day I find the gender question a complicated one to answer without applying stereotypes I don’t identify with to myself and other women,” says Angela.
“I support all efforts to improve equality while wanting us to strive for more. I aim to conduct myself now in a way my younger self would have found supportive, not patronising or alienating among her peers.
“As someone who fully expected to enter an engineering career alongside many female peers I cannot deny that the low rate of women in engineering has opened my eyes to a reality I didn’t foresee.
“Examining my own path into a life society did not expect of me has brought into focus many things about myself, my interests and my abilities, which have proved a valuable steer.
“Each year I hope the number of young women wanting to become engineers not only increases but also that we get to a state where we can’t believe it was ever different.
“I hope all engineers join me in this commitment and through changing our industry we all gain greater understanding of ourselves and the vocations we are passionate about.”
Speaking of her time at the University of Sunderland, Angela said: “Studying at Sunderland complimented my work as an apprentice while introducing me to possible future career options.
“Although I was a part time student I was supported by the student community and benefited from state of the art technologies.
“I continue to use the disciplines I studied at Sunderland. Some, including artificial intelligence, are becoming more useful even a decade later.”
To Celebrate International Women’s Day last week, Angela wrote about her experiences for the first time for the BBC Technology and Creativity Blog.
Angela Stevenson’s potted career history:
2001: Joined Nissan as a modern apprentice, aged 16.
2004 - 2007: BA Computer Studies at the University of Sunderland.
2006: Leaves Nissan to join the University of Sunderland as a radio technician
2007-2008: MA in Radio Production and Management at the University of Sunderland.
2008: Joined the BBC as a broadcast engineer