‘Enough done’ for women engineers but female numbers barely top 12% in UK
30 Apr 2019
The number of UK engineering firms who think enough has been done to encourage women into the sector has risen eightfold within a single year, according to a recent survey.
Figures from the Subcon manufacturing supply chain show’s annual pre-event research reveals that 56% of respondents “believe no more needs to be done to encourage women to consider manufacturing as a career” said the report authors.
This marks an astonishing rise from the figure of 7% recorded for the same question in 2018 and comes at a time when the proportion of women in UK engineering remains markedly low, with females comprising around 12% of the total.
“Getting more women into engineering, or in many cases, back into engineering remains a tough nut for the industry to crack,” said event director Gordon Kirk.
“It seems there has been little change in ideas of how women can be encouraged into the industry, but these figures suggest that perhaps the appetite amongst businesses has shifted.”
It takes years to build a pipeline of women in engineering and we must keep pushing
Elizabeth Donnelly, CEO, Women's Engineering Society
This year’s report coincides with the centenary of the Women’s Engineering Society which will be attending the show that runs from 4-6 June at the NEC in Birmingham.
Its CEO Elizabeth Donnelly commented:
"Campaigns to get more women into engineering have been more visible and there may be a sense that the job is done.
“However, it takes years to build a pipeline of women in engineering and we must keep pushing. “
The delay was exacerbated by the number of women forced to take career breaks and the need to do more to attract around 20,000 qualified women engineers back
Explained Donnelly: “It takes up to 30 years to get to the right stage in a career. And if women took career breaks it will take a little longer.
“So, we are seeing a few women reaching the top of engineering, with more women coming through below. It’s still not enough, barely 12% of all engineers are women, so we need to keep attracting women into engineering.”
Asked how more women might be recruited, 81% of respondents suggested greater transparency over pay. In 2018 less than 40% agreed with this.
When it came to attracting experienced female engineers back, flexible work was once again the favoured option, followed by tax incentives, childcare vouchers and return to work schemes.
Photo: Subcon'18 conference session
