Roseni Dearden spent her early childhood in rural Malaysia with her maternal grandparents, living “a highly independent life amongst nature,” which she remembers as “the happiest time” of her life. After their deaths she moved in with her mother, carrying what she describes as the lasting influence of self‑reliance and the belief that “education was the only route” to independence. Fear of poverty, including “the fear of not being able to eat,” motivated her to pursue a scientific and technological path. Post‑independence Malaysian education reforms enabled her to move from a rural Malay school to the elite Tunku Kurshiah College in 1971, where she faced racism, bullying, and criticism of her English. When a teacher doubted her mathematics score, she practised until she achieved the top mark, emphasising that mathematics “can be improved with practice and determination.”
She completed a National Diploma in Engineering at Brighton Technical College (1973–75), then studied electrical and electronics engineering at the University of Surrey, where undiagnosed dyslexia and language barriers made learning “painful.” Her English improved later during her MSc in Managing Information Technology and Communication at the University of Salford (1992–95).
Her most significant achievements centre on widening access to engineering. Drawing on her own experiences of exclusion and monoculture in engineering education, she helped establish community‑based training centres in Sheffield and contributing to the East London Advanced Technology Training (ELATT) Centre (from 1985) that opened pathways into technology for women, migrants, disabled people, and those without prior qualifications. These centres used collective, trainee‑to‑trainer models that enabled participants to gain technical skills and access higher education. She later extended this work internationally through the Women’s Engineering Society (WES) and the International Network of Women Engineers and Scientists (INWES), where she developed open‑access newsletters and digital archives to preserve women’s engineering histories.
Her message to women entering STEM emphasises resilience and collective support: adversity can be turned into capability, engineering is not reserved for the “naturally gifted,” and inclusive communities are essential for meaningful change.