Women Like Me wins Outstanding Programme of the Year at Bristol Women in Business Awards

UWE Bristol is proud to share that the Women Like Me mentoring programme, based in the School of Engineering, has been named Outstanding Programme of the Year at the inaugural Bristol Women in Business Awards 2026.

Originally created in 2018 by Laura Fogg Rogers and Laura Hobbs, the programme supports women entering engineering through mentoring, role models and outreach. Since then it has grown into a collaboration between UWE Bristol, industry partners and community organisations, with programme delivery and partnerships led by Sarah Behenna.

The judges praised the programme’s impact, noting its:
“measurable success in supporting women through their career journeys and the significant ripple effect across the regional STEM sector… creating a sustainable pipeline of visible role models for thousands of young girls.”

So far the programme has supported 400+ women through mentoring, outreach and career development across engineering and other male-dominated STEM sectors.

A key part of this work has been collaboration with the brilliant UWE Bristol Apprenticeships team, helping expand the programme to diversify degree apprenticeships. Working with FE colleges, employers and EDI organisations, the initiative is helping address regional skills shortages while building a more inclusive STEM workforce.

Women Like Me has grown thanks to support from the Royal Academy of Engineering, Office for Students, Digital Engineering Technology & Innovation (DETI) and SUEZ.

Through Office for Students funding, the programme has also partnered with organisations working to improve diversity across STEM:

• STEMAZING
• SW England STEM Ambassadors
• WISE
• Association for Black and Minority Ethnic Engineers (AFBE-UK)
• Babbasa
• Inclusive Change Ltd

The programme continues to evolve thanks to colleagues across UWE. Since 2024, Susan Durbin, Vanda Papafilippou and Amina Hamoud have lent their expertise to strengthening work on inclusive HR practices and intersectionality within the programme. Expansion into the built environment sector from 2023 was also supported by colleagues including Samantha Organ, with additional support from Rider Levett Bucknall RLB.

Congratulations also to Meg Ginsberg, who won the Inspiring Young Woman award and has been a fantastic participant in the programme.

We were also proud to see many UWE colleagues recognised as finalists, including Clare Wilkinson, Shannon Bowle and Susan Durbin.

This award highlights what can be achieved through sustained collaboration between universities, employers and communities. By diversifying routes into engineering and related sectors, programmes like Women Like Me play an important role in addressing critical skills shortages in STEM, helping to build a workforce that is both highly skilled and more representative of the society it serves.