When engineer Sophie Stone was told by a male colleague early in her career that she was only hired because she was a woman, she did what she always does – put her head down and got on with the job.
It’s an attitude that has served her well in roles working across a wide range of infrastructure projects, steadily rising through the ranks to her current role as a Senior Project Engineer working on the Dublin Road level crossing removal project.
Since graduating in 2014, Sophie said she had observed a noticeable shift in workforce composition and attitudes in the engineering and infrastructure sectors.
“In the past I have had grumpy old men tell me that women don’t belong in construction, but you don’t get that attitude anymore,” she said.
“I have definitely seen big changes in the last 10 years, both in the numbers (of women) and the acceptance of women in the industry.”
Speaking ahead of International Women’s Day, Sophie said she hoped her visibility as a senior woman working in a delivery role on the project would inspire other women to follow in her footsteps.
“I am seeing more women in the younger cohort, which is great to see, and more women coming up behind me in delivery roles,” she said.
“I do get feedback that it is inspiring to have someone ahead of them. I would love to look to women ahead of me as well, so it would be great to have more women in management roles.
“Historically, it (engineering) hasn’t been a career that’s been promoted to women.
“And probably earlier in my career I felt I had to work harder to prove myself, and overcome more obstacles and deal with more question marks about my ability.
“But in this team, that’s never been the case. Everyone is always judged on their ability and outputs rather than who they are or what gender they are.”
Most recently, Sophie has been leading the team responsible for delivery of the new Ringwood East Station, having previously overseen the building of the multi-award-nominated Lilydale Station.
“I really enjoy working in the station building space because it's so broad in scope and a complex package involving structures, architectural finishes, civil works, urban design, building services, and the management of quality, budgets, program timelines and safety relating to these scopes. I like that it touches on a little bit of everything.”
International Women’s Day is on 8 March, with this year’s theme Count Her In: Invest in Women. Accelerate Progress.