Women in engineering
Women in engineering: an interview with Judith Kavelaars
Judith Kavelaars, who has been working in the PMC Hydraulic Constructions and Dynamics department at Witteveen+Bos since 2024, has also been chairperson of JongNLIngenieurs – the youth section of the trade association Koninklijke NLingenieurs – since the start of this year. In that capacity, she is also a role model for many women in a field that has traditionally been dominated by men. How does she hold her own as a young woman in the world of engineering?
‘Just do what you enjoy’, was the advice Judith Kavelaars received from those around her when choosing her degree course. ‘And I really enjoyed maths and physics,’ she says of this herself. So it was only natural that she turned her attention to a technical degree. She chose civil engineering at Delft University of Technology. After graduating, Judith joined Witteveen+Bos and last year she was even appointed chairperson of JongNLIngenieurs.
A role model for other women
Judith’s experience in leadership roles within student societies stood her in good stead when she was asked to take on this position. It was an opportunity she seized with both hands: ‘Women often still find it difficult to stand up for themselves and feel: yes, I can do this and I’m just going to go ahead and do it.’
With Judith Kavelaars, it’s more a case of the so-called Pippi Longstocking effect: ‘I’ve never done it before, so I reckon I can do it.’ That attitude also serves her well in the role model function she now fulfils: ‘When, as a woman, you’re giving a presentation on stage to technical people, you simply have to be there. Then you’re visible, and you’re in a position that perhaps hasn’t always been held by a woman. But by doing so, you’re showing other women and girls that they can stand there too. That they’re allowed to dream of that as well.’
Curious about Judith’s story? Watch the full interview
More information
