June 23rd marks International Women in Engineering Day, a time to honor and celebrate the work achievements of women engineers around the globe! The day provides not only an important opportunity to raise the profile of women engineers, but also a chance to highlight some of the amazing career opportunities available. At CopelandBEC, we are proud to spotlight the contributions of women in our field, recognizing their vital roles both in the office and out.
Pioneering Women in Building Science
Historically, the engineering and construction industries have been predominantly male-dominated, with significant gender disparities in both representation and leadership roles. The tides are slowly shifting, though, with women increasing their presence and driving innovation in architecture, project management, material science, and more! Jennifer Keegan, Senior Director Building and Roofing Science at GAF, is a pioneer woman in the industry. In our efforts to inspire other women in the industry, we asked Jennifer to share a bit of her story with us.
My graduating class had 12 female civil engineers. My career started working predominantly with men, yet, I’ve seen consistent growth of women in the companies I’ve worked at, on projects I’ve been involved with, and within our industry. I’ve had the pleasure of working on several projects where the Project Manager, Architect, Enclosure Consultant and Structural Engineer were all women. Most recently, I’ve had the honor of expanding the GAF | Siplast Building and Roofing Science Team and the best man for the job consistently turned out to be a woman! This technical team is now 75% women! How did we all get here? Yes, we had to work harder to be taken seriously earlier in our careers. and yes, we had many who encouraged us along the way. Today, we hope to be the inspiration. There are more and more women in leadership positions within our industry. It is truly empowering for younger women to have female leaders to look up to. When they see people that look like them in leadership positions, they believe that they too could one day be a leader and hopefully these empowered women come charging into our industry!
Jennifer Keegan
Women at CopelandBEC: Leading the Way
At CopelandBEC, we are privileged to have several talented women on our team who bring diverse perspectives, expertise, and leadership to our projects. Whether they are conducting thermal analyses, designing building envelope repairs, performing tests in the field, mentoring team members, managing client relationships, or invoicing large-scale construction projects, their contributions are indispensable.
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