When 20-year SK hynix veteran Boyeon Kim was in college, she estimated only around 10% of the students in her engineering program were women. The lack of women in engineering classes prompted those on campus to distinguish students into three groups: men, women, and “engineering women”. Despite graduating years after Kim, Yujin Lee, who joined the company in 2022, admitted she did not expect to find female mentors or even work with other women in the engineering field.

The experiences of Kim and Lee in South Korea are echoed elsewhere around the world. In the U.S., women only accounted for 11.6% of all employed electrical and electronics engineers in 2023. To address this significant imbalance, International Women in Engineering Day (INWED) is celebrated annually on June 23 to raise the profile of women in engineering and inspire more young women to pursue careers in this profession.

To mark the occasion, Kim and Lee from DRAM Development sat down for a one-on-one discussion at SK hynix’s Icheon headquarters. The pair covered a range of topics including progress for female engineers, their achievements, key lessons, and future goals.

Changes & Progress for Female Engineers

Yujin: “Since you’ve been in this industry for a much longer time than me, I’ve always wondered what it was like back when you first started. Did you ever feel like you were at a disadvantage because you were one of the few women in the office?”

Boyeon: “Even when I was just one of a handful of women in class or at work, I can’t remember ever being explicitly discriminated against because I was a woman. But I did somewhat feel like I had to work harder than other team members to be recognized in a traditional workplace.”

Yujin: “Then, have you experienced any changes since you started your career?”

Boyeon: “While the culture was predominantly androcentric when I started out, it feels like it has now shifted toward recognizing and celebrating diversity.”

Yujin: “When I joined the company, I felt that women in the industry generally didn’t face many obstacles but were still encountering issues in areas such as networking. However, I received a pleasant surprise when I was assigned to my team: two of the leaders were women. It’s encouraging to see experienced female leaders around me who I can learn from. I’ve also benefited significantly from the design schools, mentoring opportunities, and seminars offered by our team’s senior members.”

Female Mentors: A Guiding Light for Young Engineers

Yujin: “Did you have female mentors when you were a young engineer?”

Boyeon: “I was fortunate to have a senior female colleague on my team around my fourth year. She helped and supported me as I grew, and she remains a reliable mentor to this day. Even after nearly two decades, I always seek her advice when faced with challenges and still find it beneficial to ask her questions.”

Yujin: “I was also lucky enough to meet various mentors. My interest in the semiconductor industry sprouted from meeting a mentor at a university alumni networking event, while I decided to work at SK hynix after meeting another mentor during my internship here. In addition to those mentors, it’s also been so inspiring to work under you and another female team leader. As a leader, what is your approach to mentorship?”

Boyeon: “When mentoring junior colleagues, I often discuss their current career status and how they want to progress. People can become somewhat complacent after working for years at a company, so, in order not to get tired, it’s important to keep planning for their future growth and envisioning a bigger picture.”

Yujin: “I am always grateful when you and my other senior colleagues take the time to help me despite your busy schedules. Often, I feel like I’ve grown significantly after just listening to your thought processes. I also apply many of these lessons to my daily life outside of the office. When I see you balance work and family while living your own life, it makes me think that I can do the same in the future.”

Boyeon: “I’m glad that you feel inspired. When it comes to talking with seniors, please don’t hesitate to ask questions. Seniors actually enjoy receiving questions from juniors and are happy to answer them.”

Eye-Opening Lessons That Transformed Perspectives

Boyeon: “You’ve been working at SK hynix for about two years now. What is something that you can say you are proud of accomplishing?”

Yujin: “Although I haven’t worked here for long, I’m satisfied with becoming familiar with my daily tasks. My latest project was regarding peripheral circuit design, and I’ve managed to approach my work intuitively after six months.”

Boyeon: “Is there anything you’ve learned from this project?”

Yujin: “My logical thinking skills have improved, and this has allowed me to enjoy my work while also feeling a sense of reward. In general, I have also learned that when I hurry to finish work, a problem generally occurs in the end. For example, there was one instance just after I started working here when I didn’t apply all the known conditions to simulations when verifying circuit designs. After a defect occurred during a wafer test, I learned that I needed to apply all relevant conditions to simulations in order to verify them—even if there are more than 1,000 conditions. I’m now more thorough in my approach to work.”

Boyeon: “Yes, there is a lot to learn from our mistakes and failures. Likewise, my most memorable project wasn’t one that was successful from the beginning. On the contrary, I learned the most from a project where we performed quite poorly. Even when our team had to work overtime every day to interpret the malfunctions that occurred in our product design, this tough experience was really valuable as it helped me and my team members develop our skills.”

Yujin: “Do you think the team gained anything unexpected from this experience?”

Boyeon: “It made us realize the importance of teamwork. We saw first-hand how the skill of each member comes together to become the overall skill of the entire team.”

Welcoming the Next Generation of Female Engineers

Boyeon: “Let’s talk about what lies ahead for us now. What is your goal for this year?”

Yujin: “I think I’ve moved on from merely absorbing knowledge from my senior colleagues to now thinking about the direction I should take by myself. Going forward, I want to become an engineer who works efficiently and uses various tools to enhance my design methodologies.”

Boyeon: “My goal is always to become a better leader. As a team leader, I see it as my responsibility to foster members’ growth and development. As SK hynix leads the DDR5 market, our team goal is to ensure the company maintains this position as we move into the DDR6 era.”

Yujin: “Lastly, what advice would you give to your younger self or to younger women who want to pursue a career in this field?”

Boyeon: “Like everyone else, I wanted to immediately be good at my job. This made me become impatient with myself. But I learned that it’s really crucial to be patient and draw a picture of how you want to grow and take small steps every day to reach your destination. What about you?”

Yujin: “Right, I can see that looking at the big picture is important when it comes to personal development. If I was to give advice, I would say if you’re inspired and motivated to tackle complex but rewarding puzzles, I’m sure we’ll make a great team here at SK hynix.”

The post INWED 2024: Junior & Senior SK hynix Workers Share Their Experiences as Women Breaking Barriers in Engineering first appeared on SK hynix Newsroom.

Ada Lovelace, a member of the British aristocracy, is widely considered the world’s first programmer. In the early 1800s, she collaborated with mathematician Charles Babbage on an early computer called the Analytical Engine, writing an algorithm for performing calculations.
In 1903, Mary Anderson invented the world’s first windshield wiper – and 15 years later, another woman, Charlotte Bridgwood, built upon this innovation with the first automatic windshield wiper.
In the 1930s and 40s, Hedy Lamarr developed the ‘frequency hopping’ technology, which enabled remote control of weapons and devices for the U.S. Military during World War II. It’s this same technology that underpins the ubiquitous wireless communication we all rely on today. These are just a few of the women engineers who have left their mark on history.

As in the past, there are still far more men in the world of modern engineers, but fewer numbers don’t necessarily mean less impact. And as these numbers continue to grow, we will certainly continue to see bigger, better breakthroughs from women around the world who are designing semiconductors, developing AI technology and setting up the network system.

In commemoration of the International Women in Engineering Day on June 23, we spoke to the next generation of female engineers of SK hynix in Korea, the U.S., China and Belarus who are shaping the future of the industry from the inside out.

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Lee Min Hye, Physical Design Manager (Korea)

Her proudest accomplishment: “A patent I wrote in 2017 has been registered with the US Patent and Trademark Office. And the product that I designed was applied to other products and became the company’s layout design standard.”

Her advice to younger female engineers: “I would definitely recommend this job to my younger family members. The culture at SK hynix is comfortable and family-like. It’s not difficult to adapt, and I don’t think there’s anything that is made more difficult because I’m a woman. Rather, it is thought that the meticulousness and persistence of women will contribute to the development of the company.”

Her take on female representation in the industry: “Since the proportion of women in engineering colleges is small, I think the same is true in the company. During the project period, overtime is frequent, and I think that many female seniors leave the company because it is difficult to take care of childcare during that time…”

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Rae Lee, Systems Engineering Manager (United States)

Her path to engineering: “My parents encouraged me to explore everything when I was a kid. So, although I was a girl, I had many science toys – and I believe that made me think that science was fun. After I graduated from college, my first job gave me the chance to help my boss to set up the network system for the entire company, which brought me into the computer world, and helped me find my interest in computers.”

Her case for engineering jobs: “First of all, job security. Engineering jobs are not likely to be eliminated by automation, because automation needs engineers to develop and test. Secondly, the compensation. Engineering jobs are paid the highest average starting salary. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) engineers have a median annual wage of $91,010 (in 2021) and the engineering field projects to have employment growth of nearly 140,000 new jobs over the next decade. Thirdly, the sense of accomplishment. Engineering jobs are challenging but they also bring you the sense of accomplishment.”

Her take on female representation in the industry: “The best thing we can is to pay women equally and put more women in prominent leadership positions. It sends a message to younger women pursuing careers in engineering that they can advance and have a successful future.”

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Maryia Smouzh, FA Tools Team Lead (Belarus)

Her path to engineering: “Everything happens by accident. It’s all fate and chance in life. As a child, I was curious what was inside devices what would happen if I changed something. I would try this while my parents weren’t looking! At university, I studied math with no idea what to do after graduation since there wasn’t much choice at that time. So, I let life just guide me here.”

Her inspiration: “The result of the work and how it benefits people. While I can’t say I have one specific role model or hero, I get inspired by the biographies of people who followed their dreams – both in the tech world and beyond.”

Her take on female representation in the industry: “Women are underrepresented in many spheres, not just the tech industry. I think it takes its roots in the early ages – for example, the stereotypes that girls should only play with dolls, and that boys are better in math and science. It can discourage a girl from studying STEM subjects and results in a gender-biased pool of specialists… However, I do believe that the situation is changing towards more diversity in the tech sphere.”

Guangqin on the front left

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Guangqin Yin, Production Engineer (China)

Her favorite part of the work: “When encountering a special emergency, all departments are responsible for dealing actively with the problems and need to have a flexible response. It’s great to strive for the same goal, with each team member’s united effort!”

Her role model: “My former boss Director Li Xiangche is my role model. His passion in work is much deeper than we think. In the early stage of mass production, he was always the last to work, and occasionally he called to the production line to confirm the operation of the production at two or three in the middle of the night. Li worked with strict discipline. After work, he was a friendly uncle. He often spoke Chinese too. He was a semiconductor man who loved life very much.”

Her take on female representation in the industry: “I think family factors and work intensity may be the factors for female engineers to leave the semiconductor industry. Nevertheless, I believe that there will be more and more women in the semiconductor industry. After all, women are not inferior to men, and women can hold up half of the sky!”

The post Our Female Engineers on International Women in Engineering Day first appeared on SK hynix Newsroom.