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My Goal as a Woman in Civil Engineering

Murakami Megumi (National Institute of Technology, Kagawa College)

Have you ever heard the expression, “Dobojo”? Dobojo is an abbreviation of Dobokujoshi, which means girls or women engaged in civil engineering. I am one of them. Today I am going to talk about my goals as a woman in civil engineering, introducing some of the ongoing issues associated with this area.

After I graduated from junior high school, I decided to go to a technical college. It was fascinating for me to study special knowledge from the beginning in an environment which was very different from high school. I strongly felt that I would like to build something really big at that time. It has been four years since I began studying civil engineering at Kagawa Kosen.

When you hear the expression, “civil engineering,” what do you imagine? You may imagine a construction site, mud, hard work or something very dangerous. You might not associate women with civil engineering. As you may imagine, when I started as a student at Kagawa Kosen, there were very few female students. When I entered the school, there was no space for women to talk about their daily lives or futures, or to ask questions specifically related to gender issues. Then three years ago, female students in the 5th year organized a group called “Takamatsu dobokujoshi no kai,” which literally means an association for women in civil engineering in Takamatsu. It consists of current female students who study civil engineering and alumni of the school. Thanks to the association, senior students and freshmen communicate with each other more often and exchange ideas more frequently. I now have colleagues with whom I can talk about various things. Among our activities, we have discussed educational problems which face the next generation. For example, we have an annual bus tour targeting elementary school and junior high students. During the tour we take the students to a dam and a bridge to show them how engineering helps us live safely. A female engineer also accompanies the tour and gives a lecture. After one bus tour, a surprising thing happened. A junior high girl who participated decided to study civil engineering. When I worked for a bus tour organized by the Dobojo, I began to think, “I would like to create infrastructure that can protect people's lives.”

Specifically I decided I would like to construct dams. This August, I held an internship at a dam administration office. While there, I learned about conflicts related to dams. As an example, take the case of Sameura Dam in Kochi Prefecture. The dam is controlled by the dam administration office of the Yoshinogawa River in Tokushima Prefecture, where I did my internship. In 1949, an investigation was carried out to prepare for construction at the future site of the dam. However, the villagers opposed the construction, because they had to give up their own land where they were born and grew up. They tried to stop the construction of the dam, holding signs which read, “No Sameura Dam.” The construction company attempted to persuade the residents to move out many times. Finally, in 1966, the villagers accepted an on-site inspection. For a long time, the builders and villagers could not understand each other. Now, Sameura Dam has become an essential part of their daily lives to the extent that people call it “the life of Shikoku Island.” The dam plays a huge role in saving human lives. For example, it dams up rivers in Kochi Prefecture where it rains a lot and sends water to Kagawa Prefecture where it does not rain very much.

While a dam is important for us, we cannot ignore various problems such as local opposition. How can we solve this kind of problem? I think one answer is through the inclusion of women. The civil engineering industry has been male-centered. In other words, the power relationship between the construction side, which mostly consisted of males, and the villagers (including many old people) was imbalanced. By participating in the conversation as a woman, I think that we can have more balanced dialogs.

According to my online research, some women in civil engineering say, “If a woman works in a construction site where the majority is men, the work atmosphere there is improved, in terms of productivity and efficiency.” However, I don't think this is the only role for women in the workplace. I think women in civil engineering can help to construct more dialogic relationships between, for example, a construction company and local residents, connecting individual to individual. I would like to be a female engineer who can place value on conversation and connection, respecting each individual's opinion.

What does civil engineering mean? I think it is a field of study intended to create towns and cities where people can live safely. Imagine the roads and bridges that you usually use. Because they are well-maintained by civil engineers, we can live comfortably. My goal is to contribute to civil engineering in Japan where typhoons come every year and earthquakes are common. As a woman I would like to work in civil engineering and transmit my experiences to the next generation. That is my goal as a woman in civil engineering.