The Engineering Book: From the Catapult to the Curiosity Rover: 250 Milestones in the History of Engineering

1919

Women’s Engineering Society

Verena Holmes (1889–1964)

By 1818, the Institution for Civil Engineers was formed in London, making it the oldest society for engineers. By the First World War, several other organizations had been formed, such as the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (established in London in 1847), the Association of German Engineers (1856), the Canadian Society for Civil Engineering (1887), the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (1880), and many others. Technical colleges specializing in engineering also proliferated.

However, an unprecedented number of women entered the workforce during World War I, and many continued to work once the war was over. England lost over 800,000 men, and so-called “surplus women” were left unmarried and often had to support themselves through gainful employment. Professions that had been closed off to them in the past were now opening up, in spite of the fact that some employers were inclined to send female workers home after the surviving soldiers returned from the front.

Verena Holmes had wanted to be an engineer all her life. After graduating from Oxford High School for Girls, she took night classes at a technical college and apprenticed as a drafter. During this time, she established the Women’s Engineering Society to promote education and enable job training for women interested in engineering. She obtained her degree from the University of London in 1922, and in 1924, she was the first woman to be inducted as an Associate Member of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers.

The Society’s journal, Woman Engineer, performed a number of useful services. For example, in 1924, editor Caroline Haslett held a contest to determine which imaginary home improvement would be most useful in freeing women from domestic drudgery: the winner was a dishwasher operated by a hand pump, followed by a thermostatic oven. Driven by the possibilities of electrical engineering for improvement within the home, she founded the Electrical Association for Women.

The Women’s Engineering Society was followed by other organizations for female engineers, including the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) in the United States, which was established in 1950. Both groups offer scholarships, lectures, programs, and support for women around the globe who are interested in studying and practicing engineering as a profession.

A 1920 cover of Woman Engineer.