Women in civil engineering: A book appreciation post

International Women in Engineering Day takes place on 23 June. We highlight the contribution women engineers have made to the civil engineering industry and our books’ programme.

Civil engineering has traditionally been a male-dominated field, but things are changing. The number of women working in the field is slowly rising, and campaigns like ‘Girls into physics and engineering’ aim to educate girls who may be interested in the field at any early age.
 
The Women’s Engineering Society celebrated its 100^th year in 2019. In November 2020, Rachel Skinner will be sworn in as ICE’s second female president. Women are editing and contributing to ICE Publishing’s science journals, and SMART Infrastructure and Construction co-editor Dr Jennifer Schooling recently won the ICE Presidents Medal. With only 11% of the engineering workforce consisting of women last year, the profession still has a long way to go to reach gender parity. However, the modern situation is an improvement from the history profiled in The Consulting Engineers, Hugh Ferguson and Mike Chrimes’ excellent book on the evolution of the consulting engineering profession, which features 40 groundbreaking engineers and not a single woman among them. “It would have been good to have a better understanding of the role of women, however, as they were generally in small family businesses, there are fewer records available”, explains Mike Chrimes.
 
Books are another area in which women have made a significant impact on engineering. From physical modelling to management to sustainability, female engineers are publishing and sharing their knowledge with the wider world. ICE Publishing has published several books written or co-written by female authors from 2010 to the date of this blog post. We invite you to check out their work and learn from their contributions to the field.
 
Here is a list of ICE Publishing’s recent books by women in civil engineering:

• CDM 2015 Questions and Answers by Pat Perry, available as a print book and an eBook
• Health and Safety: Questions and answers, Second edition by Pat Perry, available as a print book and an eBook
• Risk Assessments: Questions and answers, Second edition by Pat Perry, available as a print book and an eBook
• Conceptual Structural Design: Bridging the gap between architects and engineers, Second edition by Olga Popovic Larsen, available as a print book and an eBook
• Contaminated Land Guidance, Third edition by Jo Strange, Nick Langdon and Alex Large, available as a print book and an eBook
• Design of Vertical Gravity Sea and Quay Walls by Marisa Ackhurst, available as a print book and an eBook
• Environmental Impact Assessment Handbook, Third edition by Barbara Carroll, Josh Fothergill, Jo Murphy and Trevor Turpin, available as a print book and an eBook
• Physical Modelling for Architecture and Building Design by Olga Popovic Larsen, available as a print book and an eBook
• Professional Services Agreements, Second edition by Rachel Barnes, available as a print book and an eBook
• Sustainable Buildings, by Elisabeth Green, Tristram Hope and Alan Yates, available as a print book and an eBook
• Tension Structures, Second edition by Wanda J. Lewis, available as a print book and an eBook
• Thermal Insulation Materials for Building Applications by Eshrar Latif, Rachel Bevan and Tom Woolley, available as a print book and an eBook
• Flood Resilience ICE Themes edited by Manuela Escarameia and Andrew Tagg, available as a print book and an eBook
• Managing Reality series, Third edition (5 books) by Barry Trebes and Bronwyn Mitchell, available as a print book set and eBooks:

Managing Reality, Third edition. Book 1: Introduction to the Engineering and Construction Contract
Managing Reality, Third edition. Book 2: Procuring an Engineering and Construction Contract
Managing Reality, Third edition. Book 3: Managing the Contract
Managing Reality, Third edition. Book 4: Managing change
Managing Reality, Third edition. Book 5: Managing procedures
 
ICE Publishing welcomes book proposals from women working in civil engineering and the built environment. We hope that the proportion of women involved in this dynamic field will continue to grow and that women working in the field today will continue to share their knowledge and support the next generation of female engineering leaders.