Changing perceptions, capturing talent

A recent EngineeringUK report, Engineering UK 2016 – The State of Engineering, reveals that the UK has ‘one of the lowest numbers of female engineers in Europe’. Indeed, the report says, ‘China produces 20 times more engineers than the UK every year’ – a third of them women, while females make up just 7% of the UK’s professional engineering workforce, and under 4% of engineering technicians. HEJ considers why, despite engineering’s ever more hi-tech, diverse, and exciting nature, and recent years’ concerted efforts to promote engineering careers to women, the sector remains so male-dominated. Editor, Jonathan Baillie, also discusses with Women’s Engineering Society, CEO, Dawn Bonfield, what more the sector should be doing to ‘close the gender gap’.

While the drive in recent years to promote engineering careers both to men and women has undoubtedly had an impact, and indeed the EngineeringUK report1 states that “engineering and technology first degree achievements are ‘at an all-time high’”, the same report reveals that in 2013/14 just 15% of the (25,870) UK engineering degrees gained were awarded to females. Meanwhile, while in 2014/2015 the number of female applicants for engineering courses was up by 26.7% on the previous year, engineering courses still attracted the lowest proportion of female applicants after computer sciences. 

Many argue that to attract more women engineers – including to healthcare engineering – more work needs to be done by engineering bodies, the professional institutes, and schools, to highlight to secondary school age pupils, and indeed even younger children, how exciting, diverse, and valuable to society, engineering careers can be. It is at around the age of 11-14, it appears, that there is the greatest chance of igniting the spark that will see youngsters go on to pursue a professional engineering career.