Poggy Murray Whitham, Co-Chair of InterEngineering, part of EqualEngineers, discusses the new platform for diversity networking and why it is needed.
A decade of purpose
InterEngineering was founded in 2014 as a volunteer-led network representing LGBTQIA+ engineers across the UK. It was founded in response to Queer people in engineering not being visibly represented in many spaces within the sector, where coming out at work could still feel risky or damaging to your career. Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) were not then what they have become today and so could be met with scepticism more often.
What began as a small network soon grew into a national community that connected over 1,500 engineers across all disciplines of engineering, with various seniority levels and experiences.
InterEngineering’s aim has always been to connect, inform, and empower LGBTQIA+ Engineers, LGBTQIA+ people working in engineering, and our allies and advocates to make the UK engineering sector a more inclusive place in culture, visibility and belonging, not just in policy.
Part of a bigger picture
We marked our ten-year anniversary by bringing InterEngineering within the EqualEngineers umbrella, and it is now one of seven diversity networks. The other six – Disability, Men’s, Menopause, Neurodiversity, REACH (Race, Ethnicity, And Cultural Heritage), and Women’s – have all been formed within the past year.
These seven networks are excellent not only to create safe spaces and communities of and for people of similar lived experience, but also to facilitate collaborative working, recognising the importance and challenges of intersecting identities, and understanding how intersectionality can compound challenges in a workplace. As Audre Lorde said, “There is no such thing as a single-issue struggle because we do not live single-issue lives.”
Being, for example, a queer, menopausal woman, a neurodivergent and disabled non-binary person, or a black man struggling with self-harm and suicidal ideation (as many men within the engineering sector do) brings challenges that cannot be addressed in isolation. Our work is strongest when we work together, partner across networks and communities, actively listen, and build on our work jointly. Our new home within the EqualEngineers family allows us to do just that.
Introducing Circle
One of the most exciting developments this year is the launch of our dedicated online platform using Circle, which is designed to help our members connect in real time. We have seen in the short couple of months we’ve been using Circle that it provides a necessary space for members to come together to share experiences and feel part of something bigger.
For many LGBTQIA+ engineers, especially those in smaller organisations without ERGs, those not out at work, those who work predominantly from home or site-based, or those who live and work in more rural areas, finding a community can be difficult, and both my co-chair Fiona and I have personal experience of this, which, incidentally, is how both of us came to find InterEngineering.
We would invite anyone working in or studying engineering, whether part of the Queer community or just an ally, to join our community.
Why now?
We are proud of the work we have done, and the Queer community should be proud of the progress made in the past few decades, but while it’s important to acknowledge this, it’s equally vital to recognise the increasingly difficult challenges facing us.
In the UK, the recent Supreme Court ruling and subsequent Equality and Human Rights Commission interim guidance has received considerable criticism for weakening protections for trans people, and we have new political pressures – from both parties and individuals – looking to increase anti-LGBTQ+ practice with regard to Trans people and pride flags. The issue isn’t just domestic, we can see LGBTQIA+ rights under threat from the current US administration, with recent legislation in Hungary, and elsewhere. We have also seen hate crimes against the LGBTQIA+ community, and Trans people in particular, rising significantly over the last decade.
This shift affects more than just headlines, it shapes the psychological safety of Queer engineers in their workplaces, classrooms, and communities as a whole. More than that, the views and opinions expressed by public figures of authority act as an enabler for others to express increasingly bigoted views. We hear this in our network, with people more anxious about being out at work and unsure of whether their employer’s commitments to inclusion are genuine and will hold, or just performative and will be rolled back.
Join us In Pride
Along with joining our network at Circle platform, there are other ways to get involved with InterEngineering. Representation doesn’t just happen online or in policy – it also happens on the streets.
This year, InterEngineering will be marching at:
- Birmingham Pride on 24th May
- Pride in London on 5th July
- Manchester Pride on 23rd August
We will also be at UK Black Pride on the 10th August alongside our friends from the REACH network. You can secure your places for Birmingham Pride and Pride in London by visiting our website or Circle.
These events are not simply celebrations – they are acts of visibility and protest. We invite students, professionals, academics, and allies to march with us. Pride matters because it says, “you belong here”.
You can join Circle by visiting InterEngineering at equalengineers.com/networks/interengineering or by scanning the QR code below.Â
Meet the Co-Chairs
Fiona Connor and Poggy Murray Whitham took over as Co-Chairs for InterEngineering in 2024, but both had been part of it in some format (as Regional Co-Chairs or part of the Committee) for a long time.
Fiona Connor is an associate geotechnical engineer and Chartered Geologist. Through starting her career in a site-based role she has taken a proactive approach to promoting diversity and inclusion across the engineering sector, sitting on various industry forums. She is keen to be a visible role model and specifically a visible lesbian engineer.
Poggy Murray Whitham is a former senior manager within the automation engineering sector, an experienced and multi-accredited engineer and Chartered Fellow with the Chartered Management Institute turned full-time, multi-award-winning DEI Professional. Their work as Programme Manager at EqualEngineers involves leading on business development, research, Skills Bootcamps development and delivery, and on managing seven diversity networks. Poggy is also pursuing a doctorate at Heriot-Watt university on the topic of DEI in Engineering, and has recently been honoured to be nominated for the Positive Role Model Award for LGBT at the National Diversity Awards – a recognition that reflects on the collective work of the InterEngineering network and on EqualEngineers.
