How I help to encourage more women and girls into engineering careers

“Engineering is a great career for girls and young women,” says Michelle Brown CMgr MCMI, infrastructure team leader at Conwy County Borough Council in North Wales. “My message to them is go for it. There’s a lot of work that needs doing to break down the stereotypes. It’s not all about building sites, machinery and hard hats. It’s about managing people, psychology, relationships, teamwork using new technology and making a real difference to people’s lives.”

Michelle, who speaks softly but deliberately, joined the council 30 years ago. Starting out in an admin role, she moved on to work in the civil engineering side of the council’s work, which covers a wide range of construction and infrastructure projects, from flood protection to coastal defences, structures and buildings. After joining the council, she attained a Higher National Certificate in civil engineering and became a flood risk engineer. Today, she manages the building workstream of an in-house technical support consultancy.

“It helped me see the bigger picture”

Michelle is a fan of CMI and what it can do for people. She speaks from experience, having completed a CMI Level 5 Diploma in Management and Leadership in 2016, via Bangor University, and a CMI Level 7 Diploma in Strategic Management and Leadership Practice in 2017. A year later, she became a Chartered Manager.

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“The CMI courses helped me see the bigger picture – how my objectives, and those of my team, tied into the council’s strategic objectives,” she says. “CMI also gave me insight as a manager about what it takes to build a team. It taught me that teams must be valued and understood. Listening skills were another aspect that came out. A lot of people like to talk or want to be heard. Actually, there’s a power in silence. People who feel listened to feel valued.”

When Michelle took up her current role, the first thing she did was ask her team: “What do you need from me?” It turned out there was a lack of resources and equipment within the building team, so she acted. She bought what was necessary for them to do their jobs effectively and recruited additional team members. 

“It showed the team I was on their side. I also made it clear from the start that I don’t know everything – who does? – and that I was relying on my team to help me. Again, that’s powerful. My team are great. We all bring different skills. It’s interlinked and we became a cohesive unit.”