First Guyanese female civil engineer of East Indian descent, Jean Ramkhelawan, looks back at her career
Civil engineers have one of the world’s most important jobs: with creativity and technical skill, civil engineers plan, design, construct facilities essential to modern life, ranging from roads, bridges, to highway systems and are responsible for shaping our country’s infrastructure.
Jean Ramkhelawan holds not only the title of civil engineer, but the coveted title of the first female civil engineer of Indian descent in Guyana.
With determination and resiliency demanded by this taxing profession, as a civil engineer Jean has been able to tangibly contribute to Guyana’s development.
On May 13, 1955, Jean entered the world as the third child of her East Coast Demerara resident parents. There were many rough patches for this large family living in Industry, as her father was a cane cutter and her mother was a housewife. Overcoming those hurdles, she attended Cummings Lodge Secondary School on the East Coast from 1966–1972 where she successfully attained four GCE O’ Levels. Her first job was as a typist/clerk at the Ministry of Public Works in 1974.
In 1975, she took another step in life when she married. Shortly after her marriage in 1976, she was transferred to the materials division of the public works ministry as materials technician in the lab. Her curiosity about the field was aroused while working in the civil engineering lab at the ministry. This innate inquisitiveness and quest to learn more propelled her join GTI (Government Technical Institute) in 1978.
In 1980, she graduated with a technician diploma in building and system civil engineering (City and Guilds). Still maintaining her full-time job at the ministry and not satisfied with just a diploma, she enrolled at the University of Guyana in 1982 to study civil engineering.
At that time engineering, which was her passion, was a field dominated by males. In her class, she was the only female among 16 males. Not intimidated by the male presence, she was able to hold her own, as she was treated equally, and garnered their respect. After four years of hard work and keeping the same pace with the men, she graduated in 1986 with her civil engineering bachelor’s degree.
While she was breaking barriers in her academic and professional life, she was also a wife, and had become a mother in 1976, when her first son was born. She has five children.
By this time, her contract with the Ministry of Public Works was also up, but she decided to remain there with an upgraded position as Foils Engineer. In 1992, she was promoted to Chief Materials Officer and then Deputy Chief Road Officer before resigning from the ministry in 1994.
She left public service completely in 1994 and started consultancy for a series of private firms. Her first consultant job for E and A Consultant Services entailed supervising construction of roads and minor design works. She later worked for a series of companies including Seeram Brothers and DIPCON Engineering Services, before returning to the public sector in 2000.
At the same time, she started lecturing at the Faculty of Technology at the University of Guyana. In 2005, she simultaneously lectured and did a short course in Project Planning and Project Management at the Critchlow Labour College. She resigned from the University in 2006 and enrolled for the Masters programme at the University of the West Indies (UWI) in Trinidad. Jean graduated in January 2009 with a distinction in construction management.
The professional’s distinguished career and achievements were augmented with time as she continuously worked for the development of Guyana’s infrastructure. From 2010 to March 2012 she served as president for the Guyana Association of Professional Engineers (GAPE) and, on concluding her two-year service, she remained as an executive member for GAPE. She is also a member of the IDB Civil Society Consulting Group and a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers.
In an interview with Guyana Times Sunday Magazine, Jean stated she is currently employed as a site engineer on the East Bank Four-Lane Expansion Project.
Outlining her challenges during her career, Jean disclosed that during her career she worked with both contractors and consultants. “Some of the challenges I face are, supervising male workers on projects, performing to the same status as my male counterparts, and being the leader of a team of foreign workers. On construction sites, the culture is that men are the dominant species. The Guyanese culture is so cut out that men are the bosses. To be taking orders from a female engineer on site was something many co-workers were not too pleased about. But on site these workers were told to respect an individual’s position and be co-operative, even if they do not appreciate the individual,” she recalled.
She also revealed that she was expected to perform just as equal as her male counterparts as they were all at the same level. Being in the men’s domain and earning a salary at the same scale and with almost the same educational background, Jean said she had to give her best at all times.
She noted that this was one of the toughest positions she held during her career. She recalled that at one time she had about 10 foreign workers under her supervision for a special task for the company she was employed with. Although she met with some resistance at first, through motivation, determination and good leadership, she was able to help the team improve on their performance.
This exemplary woman certainly is someone who should be emulated. Her advice for women is to have a sound educational background and develop skills so that they can be their best.
“It is said that for a woman ‘beauty without brains is a waste of time’. However, education is knowledge, and our knowledge increases every day, while beauty fades as we age. Knowledge can take anyone to great heights,” she declared. (Information from 2012 Horizons Guyana Magazine)
