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Photo by Volodymyr Hryshchenko on Unsplash I once was interviewing a candidate for a design engineer role and I was really struggling. The candidate was trying to explain their final year project thesis and, from words alone, I couldn't follow. Without thinking, they picked up a pencil and started drawing on a nearby notepad, and their dialogue immediately stopped. They needed to communicate visually in order to explain more clearly. Words for them was not enough. A visual c

AI Generated Image - Women In STEM By the time they reach 35, half of the women who start careers in STEM have already left . That’s a stark number — but it’s also why I believe so strongly in telling these stories. Because behind every statistic are women who’ve carved their own paths, challenged cultures, and built careers in spaces not designed for them. And every woman who stays and thrives makes it easier for the next one to do the same. Over more than two decades in eng

Photo by Google DeepMind on Unsplash Every August, school uniforms fill my social feeds. This year, one photo stopped me short: a friend’s son, his hair long and blonde—just like his mum’s. My immediate thought? “When will he get a haircut like the other boys?” I caught myself halfway through the sentence. It wasn’t about hair. It was about years of conditioning—what seemed "normal" for boys and girls. If these silent rules begin in childhood, they don't magically vanish whe

Chat GPT generated image - 2025 "So what's it REALLY like to be a woman in this industry? I want to be a better ally and I've asked other people, but I don't think people really tell me like it is… What’s it actually like?" I’ve wrestled with this blog for weeks. This is my third attempt to write something that hasn’t been written before. The truth is, all the experiences I could share are already out there. They’ve been dissected, discussed, consumed. I’ve struggled to feel

Chat GPT generated image of Tracy with possible career directions In Part One of this post, I shared the stories I wish someone had told...

AI Generated Image of Tracy blowing out candles on a 21st birthday cake My family had taken me to the train station in Edinburgh and...

Hong Kong Big Buddha 2015 A couple of weeks ago, I received a message in my LinkedIn inbox from a colleague from my time living and working in Shenzhen.   They were setting up their China office and were planning to send associates out for stints to support the product development process…. And wanted to hear my reflections on my time there.   Firstly, I was delighted that some thought was going in to set up their team for success, because whether we like it or not, experienc

Photo by Felix Mittermeier  on Unsplash International Women’s Day 2025 came and went, and I didn’t post about it on LinkedIn.I was too...

Photo by Nadir sYzYgY  on Unsplash I recently wrapped up another cycle of the Kerning the Gap  mentoring program, where I’d been...

Photo by Quino Al  on Unsplash Working in a male-dominated field like engineering or design can be both rewarding and challenging and I would certainly know! This year celebrates 21 years in the field and over time, i've collected some real nuggets to give you a boost when facing tough times. I learned that while talent and hard work are essential, confidence is often the key to success. If you’ve ever struggled with self-doubt or felt like you had to prove yourself more than

Photo by Edgar Chaparro on Unsplash Allyship has been a cornerstone of my journey. It’s not an overstatement to say that I would not be...

Photo by Raquel Moss on Unsplash I’m getting a bit tired of hearing stories of women in STEM being passed over for promotion — or...