By Newsdesk

A London underground engineer has decided to ditch her overalls and pursue the path of beauty pageants instead.

Afrose Ameen, from Lewisham, admits that she has no prior experience in modelling and never thought of becoming a beauty queen. However, after learning that it was more than just about being a ‘pretty face’, she decided to enter the Miss England contest.

The 23-year-old is currently studying renewable energy alongside her job at TfL. She informs that she is constantly surrounded by men at her job. However, through the platform provided by the pageant, she hopes to inspire other women to opt for careers that are dominated by men.

Ameen said, “I\’ve actually never done a pageant or modelling before. Over the last year my opinion changed, I thought why not do it before I get old.

“I did get thrown into the deep end a bit, but everyone is lovely. It’s nice to know there’s more into it than who’s the prettiest.

“Miss England is the only one that I\’ve been interested in, a lot of the others are more looks based. I definitely want to try and inspire women to get into different jobs.”

Ameen told MyLondon that male-dominated industries can be quite intimidating. She recalled that during one of her work experiences, she did not have any gloves that could fit her, and one of the companies she was working for had to build a women’s toilet for her.

She added, “When I was working on cross rail they didn’t have any gloves that would fit on a woman\’s hand. They don’t expect women as they aren’t used to it. Female representation is needed.

“It’s definitely why I want to get into engineering after university.”

The masters student is set to compete in Miss England semi-final at Viva Blackpool on Monday, October 16.

She said, “I\’m confident in the pageant because there’s so many layers to it, I\’m aiming to enter all the rounds. The benefits have been amazing, it\’s been a huge experience and a step out of my comfort zone.

“We\’re fundraising for two charities this year […], I was actually thinking to raise for climate action.”

After the competition is over, Ameen plans to work for either the Navy or the Royal Marines as an engineer.