Women at the Great War at work: leading meaningful change in gendering engineering profession

This article examines the legacy of the engineering apprenticeship for women at the Tongland Works of the Galloway Engineering Company in Scotland, during and after the Great War (World War I). It contributes to engineering history, heritage studies, women’s studies as well as gender and organization scholarship by reconstructing the apprenticeship system as well as highlighting the achievements, activism, and career trajectories of the women who shaped it. Drawing on primary sources, the paper examines the motivations and outcomes for women recruited under the 1917 Engineering for Educated Women scheme, highlighting aspirations for professional engineering careers and the structural challenges encountered. Despite post-war legal reversals that curtailed women’s roles in engineering, enforced through agreements between the government and the engineering unions, these women made lasting contributions in the sector and beyond. Their experiences at Tongland fostered women-led entrepreneurship, new engineering ventures and professional networks, including the setting up of the Women’s Engineering Society. The paper argues that the Tongland apprenticeship was a pivotal initiative in advancing gender equity in engineering, laying the groundwork for systemic change.