Pippa Connolly's advice to aspiring female engineers - "back yourself"

Senior Lecturer of Practice in Structural Engineering Pippa Connolly can tell you exactly what it’s like to be a female engineer. A lifelong passion for maths and discovery led her down the path, and she continues to use her knowledge and skills for broader impact. But, she also shares her experience of the ‘culture of unusual’ she faced while studying and working.

The main portion of Pippa’s career has been spent contributing to some of the world’s largest construction and sustainability projects as a principal of the multinational company ARUP.  She now oversees Civil Engineering’s final year capstone subject Civil and Environmental Practice, assists with the MITI Program, volunteers at Leadership Victoria and is also a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD).

Looking back over her time as a university student and a practitioner, Pippa says there was, and is often, a ‘culture of unusual’ around women in engineering, but she was more fortunate than some. While studying in the mid-80s at Leeds University, she had a progressive Head of Department who ensured women comprised a significant proportion of students. This tempered Pippa’s experience of the ‘culture of unusual’ and set her on a confident career pathway. With decades of highest-level engineering work behind her, Pippa strongly believes women have the essential skill to being natural engineers - an ability to be multidisciplinary when solving problems.

Of her students, Pippa says it’s the women who are most often elected as leaders of group projects, as they have particular strengths in coordination, organisation and in applying quality control. “Female engineers have a unique perspective in their approach to engineering,“ she said.  “They balance options and pathways and have a particular ability to develop alternative solutions”. Pippa’s classes offer both her male and female students the opportunity to experience collaborative project work that’s as close to the real world as possible, and she finds women usually excel in this environment.

Along with being a senior Monash lecturer and professional engineer, Pippa is the mother of two girls, one of whom aims to be involved in space exploration. But, Pippa’s aware that not all girls grow up in households where science and maths are an everyday aspect of home life. She feels that more needs to be done in primary schools to empower young girls to know that their enjoyment of maths and science could lead them into careers like engineering, where they can apply their skills to solve some of the world’s most critical problems.

“Engineering may not yet be an obvious career decision for girls, but those who do find themselves here show particular focus and drive and will often have broader interests that support their success,” said Pippa. She recommends that all women studying engineering at Monash should back themselves and their abilities, and most importantly, “build stuff” because that’s the best thing about engineering.