Ordinary Council Members

Ruth Carter BSc(Hons), MSc

After a degree in Biochemistry, Ruth worked as a Systems Analyst for a year, received lots of training and immediately found herself teaching at what is now the University of Brighton. Embarrassed by her lack of qualification for this job, she obtained an MSc in Systems Analysis just as the Open University was recruiting tutors for its first Systems course. After a range of part time OU work undertaken alongside various day jobs, she became full time in 1979 as Staff Tutor in Technology for the Open University in Yorkshire. As well as managing recruitment, staff development and support for all Technology tutors in Yorkshire, she was able to participate in course teams, in university administration, to do research and to write. Most recently she worked on innovation in supply chains and on an on-line course for Women Returners to STEM funded by the UKRC. She retired in 2007.

Throughout her life, Ruth has been deeply involved in developing strategies and initiatives to encourage and support girls and women in non-traditional fields, particularly Technology and Engineering. In 1990 she and a colleague co-authored a book on the professional lives of UK and US women engineers and their work-life balance. She is a long-standing member of WES and continues to write and attend events and conferences on these and similar themes.

Since 1990, Ruth has been a member of the Editorial Board of The Woman Engineer. On the few occasions when she attended Council she was impressed by the potential of its enormous woman power and always promised that she would join Council on retirement. Now that a vacancy has arisen for someone to liaise between Council and the Editorial Board, she has been able to fulfil that promise.