International Women’s Day at Wheelfreedom - Jordan's Story

In celebration of International Women’s Day, we wanted to share the success of the women that make up our business at Wheelfreedom and the wider mobility industry.

Why do we celebrate International Women’s Day?

International Women’s Day is a yearly celebration that is celebrated world-wide, focusing on the achievements of women throughout the years, as well as raising awareness of gender equality. The day was first marked on the 28th of February in 1909 when the Socialist Party of America demonstrated their support of striking those working in tailoring garments. It has since been moved to the 8th of March to highlight women’s suffrage for wider causes across many cultures.

#BreakTheBias Campaign

This year’s theme for International Women’s Day is #BreakTheBias. The campaign aims to encourage a world free from bias, stereotypes, and discrimination by acting inclusively of women, celebrating diversity and equality.

The Women of Wheelfreedom

At Wheelfreedom, we celebrate the women who contribute to our business and the difference they make to people’s lives. Much of our female colleagues consist of engineers, product specialists, customer service, showroom staff and managers. This year, we wish to highlight one particular employee, Jordan, who breaks the bias of female engineers.

Female engineers

To this day, there are certain job roles that some people believe are unsuitable for females. One of these roles include engineering work. Whilst the world becomes more accepting of women in careers that were once solely carried out by men, it is important to highlight that a stigma still remains.

According to Women’s Engineering Society, In the UK, only 12.37% of all engineers are women, despite 46.4% of girls aged 11-14 considering a career in engineering.

Wheelfreedom’s Female Engineer and Product Specialist, Jordan

Wheelfreedom’s Product Specialist, Jordan, breaks the misconception that women cannot be engineers. Jordan, aged 28, has worked for Wheelfreedom for a year and has been working in the mobility industry for a total of seven years. With a degree in rehab and engineering, Jordan says:

“I thought engineering sounded really interesting, so I decided to pursue a degree in rehab and engineering. I studied at Coventry and gained a broad range of skills and knowledge in engineering, maths, biomechanics, materials and physio therapies.”

As part of Jordan’s degree, she worked at enablement where she first ever started to get involved in bespoke seating. Since then, Jordan has worked for one of Wheelfreedom’s manufacturers, Sunrise Medical and has worked with bespoke seating providers. Through Jordan’s hard work and determination, she has bought a wealth of knowledge and expertise to the Wheelfreedom business.

Jordan’s success at Wheelfreedom

Jordan has had a very positive impact on many lives whilst working at Wheelfreedom. She says:

“Seeing bespoke solutions become a reality, increasing a person’s quality of life is simply overwhelming. Especially knowing that my skills have allowed that to happen”

Jordan says her favourite part of her job is working on seating. “I love seating because it is like solving a puzzle. The biomechanics of seating, paired with understanding someone’s physical mobility and posture allows me to create bespoke mobility solutions. It really is amazing when you can see the effects coming in to play. Watching someone gain more movement in their hands because they are not stabilising themselves is just one example. There is a lot of job satisfaction because of the easily observable outcomes.”

When speaking of challenges in the mobility industry, Jordan feels that there aren’t as many female peers and that it can fee ‘alienating’. She says the men in all her roles have been extremely supportive, but she wishes women felt more encouraged to consider roles in engineering or a similar field.

Jordan advises women considering a role in engineering or mobility should ‘go for it.’

“Working in mobility and engineering is really mentally stimulating. It is good to push yourself and the more women do this kind of work the less unattainable it seems. It is nice to still be in health care but not in a traditional sense. There is an element of femininity, but I feel empowered by it, especially when making new products and solutions.”

Wheelfreedom's values

At Wheelfreedom we are proud to have product specialists and team members like Jordan who go above and beyond in supporting those living with reduced mobility.

We pride ourselves in being Trusted, Knowledgeable, Impartial, Dependable and Progressive.

If you would like to find out more about our seating assessments or wish to visit our showroom, give us a call today.