Celebrating International Women in Engineering Day with British Gas

Joanne Dixon, who works in Xsol and the Innovation Lab, found her way into engineering early on. She enjoyed practical subjects at school and organised her own work experience in a glass factory, helping repair machinery.  

She didn’t leave school with many qualifications and wasn’t sure what she wanted to do at first. But an apprenticeship gave her a route in, and she’s built a long career from there.  

What’s kept her in the role is straightforward. “It’s never felt like just a job,” she says. “Every day is different.”  

She still works closely with engineers in the field and enjoys solving problems and improving how things are done. That sense of figuring things out is what keeps it interesting.  

Alexis Collins, an Electrical Apprentice, took a different path. After nearly 20 years in another role, she knew she needed to retrain.  

“I had to go back to basics,” she says. “I didn’t expect to become an electrician, but I’m really glad I did.”  

The move hasn’t been easy. Alongside the demands of an apprenticeship, she has been balancing family life with two young children. But the change has given her something she didn’t have before.  

“You get job satisfaction when something’s fixed and the customer’s happy,” she says. “You can actually see the result.”  

Kirsten Clarke, a Smart Energy Engineer, says she’s always enjoyed working with her hands. For her, engineering felt like a natural fit.  

What she enjoys most is the variety. Different jobs, different people and different places. She’s rarely in the same place for long.  

She also sees how people react when she arrives. There can still be surprise at seeing a woman in the role. But that quickly fades once the job gets underway.  

As she puts it, “It’s less about what people expect. It’s about what you can actually do.”  

Lauren’s story  

A willingness to Learn

Across all four stories, one thing stands out. There’s no single route into engineering.  

Some started straight from school. Others retrained later in life. Some always knew what they wanted to do. Others found their way over time.  

What they share is a willingness to learn and keep going.  

Joanne makes that point clearly. “You don’t have to have it all from the beginning,” she says. “You build it as you go.”  

The job itself can be challenging. It can be physical. It can involve long days, travel, and constant learning. But that’s also part of what makes it interesting.  

These stories give a fuller picture of engineering than many people see from the outside. It’s practical, varied and demanding. But it’s also a role where you can see the impact of your work every day.  

And it’s a role that is changing.  

On International Women in Engineering Day, it’s important to recognise the progress that’s been made. But it’s just as important to show what the job really involves.  

For anyone thinking about it, the advice from those already doing it is simple.  

You don’t need to have the perfect start.  You don’t need to know everything on day one... You just need to be willing to learn and give it a go.  

There are also growing opportunities for engineers to get involved beyond the day-to-day role.  

A new summer volunteering programme, FieldHER Forward, is now underway across our field teams. It brings female engineers together to support local communities through practical activity, from school outreach and mentoring to hands-on support for local groups.  

It’s a simple idea, but an important one. By getting out into communities and sharing what the role really looks like, engineers can help make it more visible and accessible to others, especially young people who might not otherwise consider it.  

For those already in the role, it also offers a chance to build confidence, work together in new ways, and take pride in the contribution they make, both in the business and outside it.  

To find our more about engineering apprenticeships at Centrica click here: Apprenticeships | We're energising a greener, fairer future