Dr Buck says she has no problem as a woman in a man's job. - Winston Sill/Freelance Photographer

Dr Sarah Buck has made history by becoming the first female president of the Institution of Structural Engineers in England.

She is the 88th president and recently visited Jamaica. The institution is celebrating its 100th birthday, and Dr Buck and her team are visiting key areas (11 countries and throughout the United Kingdom) of the institution. The Caribbean is one of those key areas. She told Flair in a recent interview that she hopes to encourage, especially, young women to become members, and she is seeking to improve the level of structural engineering on a worldwide basis.

Become a farmer

Dr Buck was raised on a farm in Stafford, England, and she wanted to become a farmer. But her father discouraged her. He told her there was no money in farming. She was now left with a void to fill. She thought of what else she liked, but languages was not an option because she was no good at them but she liked solving problems and was pretty good at mathematics, geography and physics; so she decided to pursue engineering.

"It would have been more [suitable] for a boy to pursue engineering, and no one at my school (Stafford Girls High) had done it before, so there was no encouragement in that direction," said Dr Buck.

She said she did not see why she could not pursue it, so she applied to the Exeter University and got in. She received first-class honours in 1971, which was followed by a year of postgraduate research in medical engineering in 1974. She became a chartered civil engineer in 1980 and a chartered structural engineer in 1982 and a fellow in 1997.

A Man's Job

She said she had no difficulties as a woman in what may be considered a 'man's job'. " You just have to persevere. There are not many barriers to what I do, but, my job is unusual. However, if you use the unusualness of the job to your advantage, then there is no difficulty."

Also, she said she has never had a problem working with men. "I am told I get more respect on site than my contemporaries."

Dr Buck started her own business as a sole trader in 1993. She later co-founded BSW Consulting in 1996 in Exeter, where she is currently a director and has worked on expanding the business over the last 11 years.

The 55-year-old engineer said she loves her job and most of all she loves designing and building a project then watch it come to life.

She has worked on many projects across the world including Jamaica. In the late '80s, she worked on the sewerage in Negril, Jamaica, that took three years. Her recent projects include the children's Hospice near Bristol, a major study and remedial works at Mullion Harbour in Cornwall, and extensions to many schools. She has also worked on airports, historic buildings, hospitals and wind farms, just to name a few.

She said being the first female president feels very good and she has been treated very special.

Wife, mother, career woman

In her private life, Dr Buck has been married for the last 36 years with two children. But being wife, mother and a career woman are not easy tasks. However, the president said she handles it well because she is very organised. And juggling the three jobs takes a lot of organisation.

She said, for example, when she is travelling, she makes a schedule which differs from her regular itinerary that is set for her.

"I usually write down the dates of my meetings and what clothes I am going to wear. Then I number all my clothes then match them against my meetings, so I know exactly what I am going to wear."

She explained that she has to do this because she travels a lot, plus it works. When she is not on the go, she does sculpting with concrete, reading and falconry (art or sport which involved the use of trained birds of prey to pursue birds of prey for human).

As it relates to the future, she said next year she would be past president, and she plans on getting back to her business and spending more time with her family.