CAREERS IN AUTOMATION
Women in Automation Engineering: A Practical Guide to Starting and Growing
Routes into automation engineering, building skills around other commitments, proving them with projects, finding networks and mentors, and the questions worth asking an employer.
Women in automation engineering follow the same routes in as anyone else: learn one PLC platform well, add the electrical and networking basics around it, and prove the skills with projects an employer can see. What helps most is practical: learning on your own schedule, a network and a mentor, and asking employers the right questions before you accept.
This guide is about getting started and growing. It deliberately avoids headline statistics; what matters for your career is what you can show and who you know, and both are within your control.
What automation engineers actually do
"Automation engineer" covers several jobs, and it helps to pick one to aim at first:
- PLC and controls engineer: writes and tests the logic that runs machines.
- Commissioning engineer: brings new equipment to life on site, with a lot of travel. See how to become a commissioning engineer.
- SCADA and HMI engineer: builds the screens, alarms and data systems operators use.
- Process control and instrumentation engineer: loops, transmitters and valves in process plants.
- Robotics engineer: programs and integrates robot cells.
- Service and maintenance engineer: keeps installed systems running and finds faults.
- Industrial AI and data engineer: gets data out of plants and builds models on it.
Some of these are mostly office-based, some are mostly on site. Knowing which you want makes every later decision easier, including which employers to approach.
Routes in for women in automation engineering
- From an electrical, electronic, mechatronics or instrumentation degree: the most common route. The gap is usually hands-on tools, not theory.
- From a technician or apprenticeship background: strong on wiring and fault-finding; add programming and documentation.
- From software or IT: strong on code; add electrical safety, I/O and the way plants are run.
- Returning after a break: the tools have moved on, but the fundamentals have not. A few months of structured, self-paced study usually closes the gap.
Building skills on your own schedule
Automation used to be hard to learn without access to hardware. It no longer is. Vendor trial software and simulators let you write and test real PLC programs on a laptop, and free self-paced courses break the work into modules you can do in an evening. That matters if you are studying around a job or caring responsibilities.
A sensible order: Industrial Motor Control for the electrical basics, then one PLC platform such as Siemens TIA Portal, then networks and HMI. If you are drawn to data and AI, Python for AI and Engineering Data is a gentle start. For a week-by-week plan, see How Long Does It Take to Learn PLC Programming?.
A realistic six months of study
If you can give five to eight hours a week, a plan like this is achievable without hardware:
- Months 1 and 2: motor control and wiring basics, then contacts and coils, timers, counters and comparisons on one PLC platform in its simulator.
- Months 3 and 4: a complete machine project: a conveyor with sorting, or a filling station with a sequence, faults and a manual mode.
- Month 5: an HMI for the same project, and one industrial network.
- Month 6: a second, different project, a tidy portfolio, and your first applications.
Short, regular sessions work better than occasional long ones, because PLC skills are built by repetition. Keep a log of what you did each session; it becomes the material for your project write-ups and interview answers.
Proving what you can do
Interviewers in automation want evidence. Two finished projects, with the program archive, screenshots of it running in a simulator, and a one-page description of what it does and how you tested it, are worth more than a long list of courses. Be ready to explain every rung. Are Free PLC Certificates Worth It? covers what employers actually check, how to build an engineering portfolio shows how to present the projects, and our guide to an ATS-friendly automation engineer CV covers the application itself.
Finding networks and mentors
A mentor who works in the role you want can tell you which employers are good to work for, what the job is really like, and how to handle the awkward moments. Professional networks make that easier to find:
- The Women's Engineering Society in the UK offers membership, one-to-one mentoring through its MentorSET programme, and events.
- WES also runs International Women in Engineering Day, held on 23 June every year.
- IEEE Women in Engineering has affinity groups worldwide, including student branch groups. Membership is added to an IEEE membership.
Local chapters of engineering institutions, vendor user groups and online automation communities are also worth joining. Ask questions in public; answer them when you can. People remember who helped.
Site work, practically
Commissioning and service roles involve travel, early starts and sometimes weekends. They are also where engineers learn fastest. Ask before you start how trips are shared across the team, how much notice you get, and whether PPE is available in sizes that fit you properly; badly fitting boots, gloves or harnesses are a safety issue, not a comfort one. If a role is mostly on site and you need predictability, controls design, SCADA or data roles may suit you better, and you can move between them later. Many engineers do a few years of commissioning early on, then move into design or project roles with the experience it gave them.
For teams that want to hire more widely
A few practical steps widen the pool without lowering the bar: a short practical task in interviews instead of trivia; clear written criteria; PPE stock in a full range of sizes; a named mentor for every new engineer; and fair rotation of commissioning trips. None of this is specific to women, and all of it makes a team better at hiring anyone.
Start learning free
Every course on edwartens.com is open to everyone, self-paced, with no class times: Siemens TIA Portal, Industrial Motor Control, Python for AI and Engineering Data, and the rest of the free course catalogue. Create a free account so your progress is saved.
The courses are free in full. The optional EDWartens Certificate of Completion for a beginner course is a small one-off fee, US$8.99, with a code anyone can check at edwartens.com/verification. It is not a vendor certification or an accredited qualification.
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Questions
Do I need an engineering degree to work in automation?
Not always. Many automation engineers come through electrical, electronic or mechatronics degrees, but technicians, apprentices and people from IT also move in, especially when they can show working PLC projects.
Can I learn automation around a job or caring responsibilities?
Yes. Self-paced online courses with simulators let you learn PLC programming in short sessions at home, with no hardware and no fixed class times.
Where can women engineers find mentors?
Professional networks are a good start. In the UK, the Women's Engineering Society runs one-to-one mentoring, and IEEE Women in Engineering has affinity groups worldwide.
When is International Women in Engineering Day?
International Women in Engineering Day is held on 23 June every year and is run by the Women's Engineering Society.
Are EDWartens courses different for women?
No. The same free courses are open to everyone, self-paced, with no fixed schedule. Only the optional certificate is paid.
Sources
Written by the EDWartens engineering team for general education. Product names are trademarks of their owners; mentioning them does not imply endorsement. Prices and terms of other providers were checked on the date shown and can change.
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