Role Model Videos: Career Options for Women -- Engineering

The “Career Options for Women: Emerging Opportunities” videos introduce your female students to high-wage careers in traditionally male-dominated occupations. Each program reveals the personal experiences and insights of successful women in technology and trades occupations, and sends the all-important message to women and girls that the sky is the limit!

Engineering

This 24 minute video features profiles of three women who have embarked on careers in the engineering industry.

• Elizabeth Nethery, a product support engineer who tests and customizes prosthetics
• Elisabeth Paul, a computer software engineer in the aerospace industry
• Daisy Lung, an environmental engineer who conducts site assessments for real estate clients

Additional information from co-workers and supervisors supplements each job profile.

Developed in 2006, the Career Options for Women series is an outstanding resource for schools wanting to attract women and girls to science, technology and trades.

Note: These videos are interspersed with Canadian salary and labor statistics, which are similar to the numbers in the United States. As there is a no-return policy on these publications, please make sure to look at the preview video clip for the DVD(s) you are ordering.

Elizabeth -- Product Support Engineer

Which people help to influence your decisions the most? Elizabeth Nethery credits one of her 12th grade teachers. Although English was her best subject, her teacher encouraged Elizabeth to pursue an engineering education. It's a decision Elizabeth has never regretted. With a degree in physics engineering, Elizabeth earns a good salary and enjoys a high level of job satisfaction. She helps people regain the use of their limbs with prosthetics.

Elizabeth Nethery works as a Product Support Engineer at a small company called Vorum Research Corp. The company - founded about 10 years ago - produces software for the prosthetics and orthotics industry. Elizabeth is mostly involved with technical/customer support. Some of her other duties include product testing and customization, as well as troubleshooting with customers that may not have a technical background.

Elizabeth was drawn to this field because she really wanted to work in an engineering role that creates a product that helps people.

When asked what it takes to make it in a non-traditional career, Elizabeth replied: "Dream big. You can do anything; you just have to find what you want to do. Don't be afraid to try, you'll never know if you like it until you try and you can always change careers, especially if you can make a decent living while you're doing it. There's a lot to be said for being in a field where the pay is good and you are in demand."

Elisabeth -- Computer Software Engineer

Software engineer Elisabeth Paul has a job that is out of this world! She designs software that is used by the Canada Arm on international space projects.

Initially, Elisabeth was encouraged to enter computer engineering by her mother, who believed that the future lay in this career choice. Elisabeth took her advice and, after graduating, found an entry-level position that started at more than $40,000 per year! Elisabeth’s hard work has resulted in an excellent career and a good life right here on Earth.

Elisabeth feels that the most important personal quality to have if you want to be an engineer is a sense of curiosity. Things are always moving so quickly in the software environment so it is important to be continually keeping up.

Daisy -- Environmental Engineer

Daisy Lung works for Next Environmental Inc., an environmental engineering consulting firm. She is a part of the Site Investigation Team, which investigates potential environmental concerns at different properties. Then, a strategy is created to clean up the contamination so that land can be used again.

Her career path began after high school, when she went into the engineering program at the University of British Columbia. At the end of the first year, she chose to go into the Bio-Resource Engineering program. She graduated in 1998, with a bachelor's degree.

A few months after graduating from university, Daisy completed a job search program, which involved finding an eight-week job placement at a company in her field of study. She approached Next and a few other companies, and ended up choosing Next Environmental Inc. to do her voluntary placement. After the eight weeks, she was officially hired by Next.

For those who are interested in pursuing a similar career, Daisy recommends talking to someone in the field. Also, if you have an opportunity to do a placement for career prep in the field, then do it. Look into the university calendars and make sure you take the necessary courses to get into the engineering program. Today's rapid technological revolution means that engineers will be continually upgrading their education for many years to come.

“It's interesting to see how things work and how it is designed in engineering. Also, I like having the chance to work both inside and outside of the office. Staring into a computer, day after day, all day long is not much fun.”