Timeline

Year	Achievement
2019	WES Centenary	Value
2018	Faith Wainwright is the first female president of the Institution of Structural Engineers.	Value
2018	British astrophysicist Jocelyn Bell Burnell receives the Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics for her scientific achievements and inspiring leadership. She donates the £2.3 million prize money to the creation of scholarships to help women, underrepresented minorities and refugees who are pursuing the study of physics.
2016	Isobel Pollock-Hulf becomes the first female Master of the Worshipful Company of Engineers.
2015	Naomi Climer becomes the first female president of the Institution of Engineering and Technology.
2014	Mary Barra, electrical engineer, becomes chief executive officer of General Motors, making her the first woman chief executive officer of a major global car manufacturer.
2014	Maxine Stiles, Alexandra Olsson and Penny Thackray become the first women to serve in the Royal Navy’s Submarine Service.
2014	First National Women in Engineering day celebrates the achievements of women in engineering.
2014	Dame Ann Dowling becomes the first female president of the Royal Academy of Engineering.
2013	Sheila Holden becomes the first female president of the Chartered Institution of Highways and Transportation.
2010	Chi Onwurah is the first woman engineer elected to the House of Commons.
2018	Jean Venables is the first woman president of the Institution of Civil Engineers.
2005		Ellen MacArthur becomes the fastest solo round-the-world sailor.
2004	Patricia Galloway is the first woman president of the American Society of Civil Engineers.
2004	Martha McSally is the first woman to command a US Air Force fighter squadron.
2000	Jennifer Murray is the first woman to fly solo round the world in a helicopter
1999	Astronaut and test pilot Eileen Collins becomes NASA’s first female commander of a space shuttle.
1998	Susan Greenfield becomes the first female director of the Royal Institution.
1997	Pamela Liversidge becomes the first female president of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers.
1997	For the first time, some army frontline jobs in the Royal Engineers, Royal Artillery and Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers are open to women.
1994	Carole Jordan is elected the first woman president of the Royal Astronomical Society.
1993	Aeronautical engineer Sheila Widnall becomes the first female Secretary of the US Air Force.
1992	Jo Salter qualifies as the first female RAF fast-jet combat pilot, flying Tornados.
1991	Julie Ann Gibson becomes the first female pilot in the RAF.
1991	Helen Sharman becomes Britain’s first astronaut and the first woman to visit the Mir space station.
1990	Women in the Royal Navy are allowed to go to sea for the first time, but they are not allowed on submarines or to be deep-sea divers.
Value
1986		An amendment to the Sex Discrimination Act 1975 allows women to retire at the same age as men and lifts the legal restrictions that prevent women from working night shifts in factories.
1985	Daphne Jackson Trust established, to provide fellowship funding for women in STEM to return to work after career breaks.
1984	Sue Aldcock becomes first woman to pilot RAF fast fighter jets, as a civilian test pilot specialising in the testing of anti-G suits at RAE Farnborough.
1983	Barbara Sabey is awarded the Imperial Service Order for her contribution to road safety during a 40-year career at the Transport and Road Research Laboratory, where she was recruited as a young physics graduate in the 1940s.
1980	Lynn Rippelmeyer is the first woman to pilot a jumbo jet – a Boeing 747 – across the Atlantic.
1980		The South African driver Desiré Wilson is the first woman to win a Formula One race, at Brands Hatch in Kent.
1979		Margaret Thatcher becomes Britain’s first female prime minister.
1978	Girl Technician of the Year Awards launched by the Institution of Engineering and Technology. In 1988 the name of the competition is changed to Young Woman Engineer of the Year Awards.
1976		Claire Francis is the first woman to cross the finishing line in the Transatlantic Yacht Race.
1975		Women and Manual Trades organisation is founded to promote the building trades as a career choice for women.
1975		The Sex Discrimination Act protects men and men from discrimination in employment, training and education on the grounds of sex or marital status.
1972	Yvonne Pope is the first British woman to pilot a commercial jet.
1972	Jackie Smith joins the parachute regiment of the WRAC and becomes the first woman to fly with the Red Devils.
1972	The American astrophysicist Margaret Burbidge is appointed director of the Royal Observatory, GreenwichValue
1972		The Jockey Club allows women to be jockeys.
1970		The first National Women’s Liberation Conference, held in Oxford, seeks abortion on demand; free contraceptives; equal pay; equal employment and educational opportunities; free 24-hour nurseries.
1970		Equal Pay Act enshrines in law the principle of equal pay and working conditions for men and women.
1969		A new Representation of the People Act extends the franchise to all men and women over the age of 18.
1967	Jocelyn Bell Burnell observes the first discovered radio pulsars.
1967	Margaret Weston, electrical engineer, is promoted from deputy keeper of electrical engineering and communications at the Science Museum in London to become the museum’s first female keeper.
1966	Sheila Scott is the first British woman to fly solo around the world. Two years earlier, the American aviator Geraldine ‘Jerrie’ Mock was the first woman in the world to achieve this feat.
1965		Barbara Castle is appointed Minister of Transport, becoming Britain’s first female Secretary of State.
1964	InternationaI Conference of Women Engineers and Scientists is founded by the Women’s Engineering Society. More than half a century later, it continues to be held every three years.