This year marks the 100th anniversary of women being allowed to vote, which is something well worth celebrating. However there is still a lot of gender imbalance when it comes to certain industries with less women choosing careers in the scientific and engineering industries.
Statistics regarding women in engineering
2017 survey statistics from the Women’s Engineering Society (WES) show that only 11% of the engineering workforce is female. Although this is an improvement (it was only 9% in 2015), it is still a very small percentage proportionally, and the same surveys indicate that the number of women registered engineers and technicians has fallen 1% down to 5% of the total.
Unfortunately WES has also indicated that the UK has the lowest percentage of female engineering professionals in Europe (below 10%). In 2017 15.1% of UK engineering undergraduates were women and the proportion of females studying engineering and physics has hardly changed since 2012.
When taking into account that there is a shortfall of engineering professionals in this country, the statistics above make it clear that more women need to be encouraged to become engineers. Overcoming the stereotypes associated with the industry is an important part of this.
Campaigns and societies to encourage women in engineering
It’s not all bad news though. There are a lot of very positive campaigns and movements which have been set up to encourage more women to choose careers in the engineering industry. These include WES (the Women’s Engineering Society mentioned above) and WISE (the Campaign for Gender Balance in Science, Technology & Engineering) amongst others.
There is also International Women in Engineering Day (INWED), which takes place every year on 23rd June. INWED is an international awareness campaign to raise the profile of women in engineering. It focuses attention on career opportunities available to young women in this industry and celebrates the exceptional achievements of women engineers around the world.
Opportunities for women in engineering
Making young women aware of the opportunities available to them in engineering and overcoming the stereotypes associated with the industry also needs to come from schools, parents and employers. Girls who show an aptitude for maths and science should not only be encouraged to choose and excel in these subjects at school level, but also be informed about the different career opportunities open to them that will make the most of their abilities.
There is a huge diversity of different careers in the engineering industry and often pupils are only aware of a very few. Creativity and design skills are key in many engineering paths and this should also be made clearer to encourage those who can combine these with an aptitude for maths.
Employers also need to make the workplace more welcoming for female engineers, as encouraging women to stay in the profession is as important as getting them to choose it in the first place. Discouraging the type of workplace banter that makes young women feel excluded or uncomfortable, being more family friendly and providing access to other female engineers as positive role models and mentors can all help.
Hopefully the more we talk about the opportunities for women in engineering, the sooner it will become as likely for young girls to choose this career path as their male peers. Engineering can only benefit from inspiring the best candidates to come on board, regardless of their gender.
