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In honor of International Women in Engineering Day, bp's Aleida Rios, senior vice president of engineering, and Starlee Sykes, senior vice president of Gulf of Mexico & Canada, sat down with Mark Crawford, head of diversity, equity & inclusion, for a discussion about their respective career journeys, the challenges they’ve faced, and what they’d tell girls who are considering a career in the industry
International Women in Engineering Day began in the UK in 2014 as part of a national campaign to give women engineers a higher profile across the globe. It’s a day to recognize the achievements and impact of female engineers worldwide. While women represent 48% of the workforce overall, they only make up 22% of the workforce in the energy sector – and only 16.5% of engineers worldwide are women.
“It starts with that little girl wanting to be an engineer. I was that little girl and it took somebody looking like me for me to believe I could be an engineer.”
Aleida Rios, senior vice president of engineering, bp
“You can be anything you want to be. Whatever you love, whatever your passion is, go for it. And don’t self-limit. I think that’s one of the worst things we can do.”
Starlee Sykes, senior vice president of Gulf of Mexico & Canada, bp