WES was founded in 1919 by a small committee drawn from the National Council of Women, which was created during the 1914-18 war to get women into work to release men for the armed forces. This group of influential women had government backing to support women engineers who, although welcomed into the profession during World War 1, were under pressure at the end of the war to leave the workforce to release jobs for men returning from the forces. These women founded WES, not only to resist this pressure, but also to promote engineering as a rewarding job for women as well as men.

Founding members included wives of eminent engineers for example Lady Parsons, wife of Sir Charles. Famous members since then have included Amy Johnson, Dame Caroline Haslett, and Professor Daphne Jackson. View Presidents since 1919.

In that first year the Society's Journal The Woman Engineer was published, appearing regularly ever since. In 1923 the first annual conference was held and has been held ever since - cancelled only twice, during the Second World War. View history of conferences and AGMs.

WES History Now and Then (Powerpoint show 669 KB)

We have a tradition of making a difference. Our ‘spin out’ programmes led or stimulated by our pioneering members include:

• The Electrical Association for Women to train women in the use of electricity in the home
• The Verena Holmes Trust  and campaign to engage girls, launched 1969 -  the first year of women in engineering
• British Women Pilots AssociationCampaign and launch of WISE following year of women in engineering 2 in 1984
• Pilot and subsequent launch of Daphne Jackson TrustSpeaking Out (with WISE) handed over to STEM Ambassadors 
• Campaign and dialogue to establish greater funding for the issues and ultimately formation of what was the UKRC for SET Women

A short booklet is available on the History of WES from the WES office.