Barbara M Stephens OBE
What have you valued most from being a member of WES?
Contact with other women engineers at the beginning of my career and very isolated.
How have you been involved with WES?
Prior to 2003, I was involved with London Branch as a Board member and was involved with a number of initiatives, although I can’t remember a great deal about them now. After 2003, the demands of my jobs, and locations made participation in WES events and activities much more difficult, and I spent more time on individual mentoring.
Barbara’s Story: From apprentice to advocate for change
In September 1969, Barbara began a technician apprenticeship with Marconi Communications Systems Ltd. Outnumbered 200:1 by male apprentices, she was the first female engineering trainee since 1945. Against the odds, she completed her apprenticeship as Apprentice of the Year in 1973 and went on to spend 15 years in roles of increasing seniority across printed circuit manufacture, project engineering, and shopfloor supervision. Yet when promotion to divisional manager beckoned, a newly appointed Managing Director blocked her advancement, stating he “did not like having women reporting to him in technical roles.”
Barbara refused to be deterred. She moved to the National Economic Development Office as an industrial adviser to the electronics industry and later became Chief Executive of the West Cumbria Development Agency. There, she created vital employment opportunities in the wake of steelmaking and mining closures, demonstrating how engineering leadership could transform communities.
From 1998, Barbara’s career shifted beyond engineering, but she carried the order and discipline of her training into every role. She served as Chief Executive of the Local Government Commission for England, worked as a recruitment consultant at the highest levels of the university sector, and later became Regional Director for London and Director of Student Casework at the Open University.
Following reluctant retirement in 2016 after heart surgery and cancer, Barbara continued to shape the future of engineering. As Chair of the Governing Body of the Energy Coast UTC for eight years, she championed education for 14–18 year olds with a strong focus on engineering and construction.
Barbara’s journey reflects both the barriers women faced and the change WES continues to make ensuring that women are not only welcomed into engineering, but empowered to lead, innovate, and inspire the next generation.