Women in engineering – what can businesses do to encourage female participation?
By Chloe Vickery, National Risk Assessment Manager Fire & Security at JLA
It is no secret that women are vastly underrepresented in the engineering industry. The Women’s Engineering Society states that women make up just 14% of the engineering workforce in the UK, and only 5% of registered technicians and engineers are female.
Whilst efforts have been made to boost participation across the sector, engineering is still a disproportionately male-dominated sector, so, what can businesses and educational establishments do to boost female participation and ensure women see engineering as a valued career to enter into?
Women must be introduced to the opportunities within a career in engineering in the early stages of education. Avenues such as engineering roles within fire safety departments could be a route for female students to try and being made aware of all the differing roles and sectors that engineering can be available in, should be a top priority.
According to research by Richard Nelson LLP, engineering courses receive four times more male applications than females, suggesting that more is needed to be done to advertise and encourage female students with the right skills, to seek out a career in the sector.
To tackle this gender imbalance in engineering, business leaders should be working with local colleges and universities, to attract and encourage women with the right skills to enter into the field. As the sector is male dominated, some unconscious biases may be evident and therefore, using techniques such as anonymous CVs or application processes, could help the figures of female entrants into the sector to naturally rise.
As well as this, engineering organisations could consider more apprenticeship programmes, and can work with local colleges to allow more female students with the right skills to try out the role in a more practical way. Courses in security, fire safety and electrical engineering, can all be potential options.
Engineering is not a career just for men and clearly, much more needs to be done to advocate the real benefit and value that women can bring to the field.
To tackle this gender imbalance in engineering across the UK, businesses and education establishments must work hard to promote careers in the industry and work with young women to educate them on the vast array of opportunities that are available when working as an engineer. It is hoped that these positive representations of careers in engineering could help to tackle the gender imbalance currently evident across the profession.
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