Our Heritage
For over a century, the Women's Engineering Society has championed women in engineering.
We have had many notable members with fascinating lives and careers and as a result, our history is one of pioneering women and collective action.
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Throughout its history, WES has inspired or helped establish many initiatives that have shaped opportunities for women in engineering and beyond.
The WES archive is held at the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET), Savoy Place, London. It contains over a century of correspondence, photographs, and journals charting women’s progress in engineering.
Our history
Founded in 1919, the Women’s Engineering Society was established at a time when many women who had taken up engineering roles during the First World War were being forced out of the profession. A group of visionary women formed the Society to protect women’s place within engineering and support their training, employment and professional recognition.
Over the last century, WES has grown from a small campaigning society into an internationally recognised organisation supporting women across engineering and related industries. Its members and leaders have included influential engineers, inventors, campaigners and aviators, while initiatives including International Women in Engineering Day continue to shape conversations around representation and inclusion today. The work of those early pioneers established a lasting foundation that continues to support women entering and leading within engineering.
The full archive of our 100+ years of influence, including the digitised library of The Woman Engineer Journal, is available at The Institution of Engineering and Technology.
Our Presidents 1919 - Today
Our Pioneering and Founding Members
The founders of the Women’s Engineering Society were determined, technically skilled women who challenged the idea that engineering was a profession reserved for men. Through factory work, engineering businesses, electrical training programmes, public campaigning and professional networks, they fought for women’s right to study engineering, secure technical employment and be recognised as qualified engineers in their own right.
Lady Katharine Parsons
Lady Eleanor Shelley-Rolls
Rachel Parsons
Margaret, Lady Moir OBE
Laura Annie Willson MBE
Margaret Rowbotham
Janetta Mary Isabel Ornsby
Dame Caroline Haslett
Our Archives
The Woman Engineer Journal and the WES archives, held at the Institution of Engineering and Technology Archives, contain a wide range of historically significant images, people and places. Many of these images are owned by WES and permission must be obtained before they can be reproduced in print, online or for television, film or media use. In some cases, WES may request a donation for image use.
If you would like to use an image from the WES archives, please contact WES at heritage@wes.org.uk in the first instance.
You will also need to complete and return the image request form.
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