Ine chose a master's degree with an industrial point of view

• Name: Ine Høines
• Study programme: Master in Industrial Asset Management
• Occupation and employer: Dept. engineer at Gassco

What was your initial motivation for choosing Industrial Asset Management as a discipline?

After I completed my bachelor's degree, I was ready and motivated to start a master's degree. I generally spent a lot of time researching different options on the various studies' websites, but also through other people's experiences. When the choice was finally made between Industrial Asset Management and Industrial economics, it was the fact that Industrial Asset Management had an interdisciplinary focus with economics and technology that was decisive.

How did the Industrial Asset Management programme at UiS help nurture your ambition for career development in maintenance and reliability engineering?

Before starting my studies, I had not realized how satisfied I could be with a degree. With professors who are highly focused on optimizing the programme, I found that the master's degree had a more industrial point of view, compared to my very theoretical bachelor's degree.

The interest in maintenance initially came as a bit of a surprise to me, because it was not what I was most looking forward to working with. These subjects gave me the opportunity to work with concrete issues from different industries, in collaboration with other students.

I also experienced that the programme made it possible for you to shape your degree, somewhat, according to what you wanted to work with when you go into working life. In the 3rd semester, it was possible to choose electives that interested you the most.

What opportunities for improvement, if any, did you perceive within the programme to attract more women into the maintenance and reliability engineering fraternity?

What became very clear to me at the start of my studies was that this was a male-dominated study. This is not necessarily a weakness or a strength, but I would like to point out to others that this is equally manageable for women and men. I believe that simple but essential changes, such as simplifying the name of the study program and courses, can have a positive effect on the recruitment of women. I think of industrial management or industrial technology as two examples of non-intimidating titles. Preferably for Norwegian girls, I think fronting Norwegian titles can make it more understandable. As I think "generasjon prestasjon" is very integrated in girls my age, where the fear of not being able to succeed can get in the way of taking opportunities.

Any words of wisdom and encouragement for women who want to join or are already in the Industrial Asset Management programme and looking forward to a career path in maintenance and reliability engineering?

I expected to end up in a male-dominated industry. The reality has been completely different, especially in Gassco where I am employed. I experience the company as very gender neutral. It is important that women are not intimidated by difficult titles, because behind the titles there are many exciting tasks.

When it comes to maintenance, this must be one of the most exciting tasks in my eyes. You will have the opportunity to work with real time operations. At the same time, you will be challenged to think creatively about how you can plan maintenance to optimize operations in the future.

I hope to see more female applicants to the program in the future, you will be challenged and guided through the program to leave with as much knowledge as possible.