How can we help encourage more women into engineering?

Originally published 19 June 2023

In the UK, only 16.9% of the engineering and technology workforce are women.

The figure closely matches the results of the Science Education Tracker 2023 survey, which found that of 7,200 school pupils, only 16% of girls believed engineering was a suitable career path.

If engineering is to benefit from talents representative of the whole population, rather than just half of it, then this must change.

Why we need a diverse workforce

As Caroline Criado Perez suggests in her famed book ‘Invisible Women: Exposing Data Bias in a World Designed for Men’, because of a lack of thought for women, our needs and differences have become invisible.

The book highlights how there are very few circumstances in which women’s differing biology and physiology have been considered.

From building design and toilet arrangements to police vests and snow clearance, women simply haven’t been thought about. 

This is why we need a diverse workforce to ensure the world around us is designed by the people using it!

Challenging stereotypes

From when they are young toddlers, many girls are taught to conform to stereotypes.

Although there’s a much greater emphasis at school that both girls and boys play with cleaning toys or building toys, their gender roles have often already been assigned at home.

This has created an occupational separation. Society’s attitudes strengthen the myth that boys are good at maths and science and girls are good at English.

According to the Engineering and Physical Science Research Council, physics is the fourth most popular school subject for boys, but seventeenth for girls.

We need to profile female engineers, bring them into schools from a young age, and use campaigns to demonstrate what a female engineer looks like.

And in the age of social media and influencers, we need to leverage these platforms to promote engineering to a younger audience.

We need a more accurate picture of what engineering is

Many people still imagine a man in a hard hat and a hi-vis jacket when asked to think of what an engineer looks like.

The truth is engineering is so much more than this, and there’s a place for anyone who’s interested in shaping the world around us.

Some assume all engineers are surrounded by machinery on construction sites and work on maths equations.

STEM subjects taught in school can contribute to this image, sometimes overlooking the importance of creativity and communication skills in engineering.

Engineering is far more than technological knowledge – we need engineers who can clearly articulate their ideas, get out of their comfort zone, and ask the right questions.

Engineers make a positive impact within society, whether that’s applying climate resilience principles to protect communities from flood risks or designing critical infrastructure for millions of people.

By painting a more accurate picture of what engineering entails, we can hopefully attract more talent, from a wide variety of backgrounds.

How to inspire and build a diverse workforce

Women in Transport shares some recommendations for creating inclusive workplaces and building gender-diverse teams:

1. Profile women doing all jobs at all levels in the company. This will provide young people with visible role models and inspire them to consider careers in the sector.
2. Establish women’s networking groups to connect women and allies across teams and projects and help them gain confidence in their ability to make connections.
3. Put in place diverse recruitment panels and remove personal details from CVs.
4. Provide access to mentoring programmes, either in-house or with an industry body.
5. Invest in training and development to build leadership potential. Specific programmes tailored for women, such as Women in Transport’s Lead programme, are proven to be effective.

How many of these could you put in place in your own company?

Time for change

ICE members and industry professionals can play an important role in creating the change we need.

Careers advisors need to be more aware of the range of job opportunities that could come under engineering.

We need to make and show that engineering is an attractive and fulfilling choice of career.

These changes are slowly happening, but we need to take them much further.