This year International Women’s Day is all about challenging stereotypes and bias with #PressforProgress.
Watch Our Born to Engineer Film Pushing Boundaries – Women in Engineering – Follow Dawn Bonfield on her journey looking at some incredible and inspiring stories of female engineers – could the next one be you? Celebrate National Women in Engineering Day on 23 June.
International Women’s Day celebrates the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women and marks a call to action for accelerating gender equality.
The UK has the lowest percentage of female engineering professionals in Europe, and it is only through challenging the stereotypes around our industry are we going to change that.
The theme for International Women’s Day 2017 is ##PressforProgress. Now, more than ever, there’s a strong call-to-action to press forward and progress gender parity.
There’s a loud call to ##PressforProgress by motivating and uniting friends, colleagues and whole communities to think, act and be gender inclusive.
The Good News for Women In Engineering
It isn’t all bad news for Women in Engineering. The 2017 WES survey showed 11% of the engineering workforce is now female – a definite change from the 9% in 2015
Progress has happened in schools. There is now very little gender difference in take-up of and achievement in core STEM GCSE subjects.
The number of Women Fellows of the Royal Academy of Engineering has doubled from (an admittedly low) 2% in 2006 and 4% in 2014.
The WES survey also revealed that out of the 300 female engineers they contacted 84% were either happy or extremely happy with their career choice and Engineering students are now a close second to medical students in securing full-time jobs and earning good salaries.
The Bad News for Women In Engineering
However, the positives shouldn’t let us forget that only 15% of engineering undergraduates in the UK are women.
This compares poorly with developing countries. In India over 30% of engineering students are women.
Worse still the proportion of younger women studying engineering and physics has not increased since 2012. Women account for a dismal 6.8% of Engineering apprenticeships, and only 1.9% of Construction Skills start programmes. This must change.
Currently, the UK percentage of female engineering professionals is only 10%. We are lagging well behind other Europen nations like Latvia and Bulgaria. Cyprus now boasts a 30% female engineering workforce!
Bringing more women into Engineering is essential. Enabling women to meet their full potential in work could add as much as £20 trillion to annual GDP in 2025 and will help tackle the 40,000 yearly shortfalls of STEM-skilled workers in Britain.
Discover More Engineering Stats at wes.org.uk
Explore some of our recent posts about the role of Women in Engineering
- Are you part of the #1ofTheMillion?
- 8 Reasons Why More Women Should Consider Working in Skilled Trades
- Mattel’s latest Barbie builds robots & teaches kids to code
- Doodles of scientists reveal changing gender stereotypes
- International Women’s Day is all about challenging stereotypes and bias
- Natural History Museum shares the inspiring stories of women in science and research
- International Day of the Girl – Let’s celebrate the role of Women In Engineering
- Fancy a career in HS2? Now is your perfect opportunity
- Engineering a difference – Dr Priyanka Dhopade talks to Scienceblog
- Explore – Women in Computing: a British Perspective
- University of Bath celebrates achievements of women in STEM with “Sulis Minerva Day”
- Future Projects Awards 2017
- UWE celebrate International Women’s Day today with an event showcasing the achievements of female entrepreneurs
- Dorothée Pullinger – Ground-breaking female engineer nominated for Scotland’s Hall of Heroes
- Victoria Drummond – Ground-breaking female engineer nominated for Scotland’s Hall of Heroes
- Best of British Engineering Unveiled – Prestigious Semta Skills Awards unveils 2017 shortlist
- Birmingham University Is Stepping Up to Tackle the Engineering Gap
- Professor Eleanor Stride Signs Open Letter calling for Prime Minister Theresa May to close gender pay gap
- Bola Fatimilehin, Head of Diversity at Royal Academy of Engineering, on Diversity in Engineering
- Virtual Reality & Robotics Help Paralyzed Patients Learn to Walk Again
- Dartmouth Celebrates Majority-Female Graduates for Engineering
- British Airways is helping diversity take off
- MIT study explores the challenges facing women in Engineering
- National survey shows strong support for women in engineering
- Three women in Northern Ireland earn QUEST Technician scholarships
- Queen backs drive to get more British women into engineering industry
- Engineering a balance in recruitment and education
- Ada Lovelace Day take place to celebrate women in STEM careers
- First female president of IET proposes quotas to boost numbers of UK female engineers
- First female president of Institution of Engineering and Technology vows to attract more women into engineering
