Construction industry celebrates National Women in Engineering Day

23 June 2015 is home to National Women in Engineering Day, a day devoted to raising the profile and celebrating the achievements of women in engineering, and encouraging more girls to consider engineering as a career.

National Women in Engineering Day (NWED) was launched last year to celebrate the Women’s Engineering Society’s (WES) 95th anniversary and proved a huge success with over 250 schools and 80 organisations getting involved and hosting events and activities in support for women in engineering. This year promises to be even bigger with more organisations, institutes and education establishments hosting larger and better events all across the country in the name of gender equality.

Currently women make up less than 10% of the engineering sector, and with a large skills gap looming, and the additional need for a more diverse workforce, it has never been more important to encourage girls to choose a career in engineering.

Here are some raw statistics:

1. Only 7% of the engineering workforce is female.
2. The UK has the lowest percentage of female engineering professionals in Europe, at less than 10%, while Latvia, Bulgaria and Cyprus lead with nearly 30%
3. 3.4% of engineering and manufacturing apprentices are female.
4. In 2013, the median basic income for male registered engineers and technicians (£55,000) is 19.7% higher than that of females (£45,941).
5. The UK needs to double the number of recruits into engineering to meet demand.
6. Companies with more women on their boards were found to outperform their rivals with a 42% higher return in sales, 66% higher return on invested capital and 53% higher return on equity.

The situation is, however, improving. The Institution of Civil Engineers Director General, Nick Baveystock, said: “Women represent 10% of ICE’s total membership and female applications to ICE are slowly rising, with graduate numbers at 18%. This is encouraging, but the reality is that there are still more male than female engineers, so we must do more, and collaboration between industry and institutions is critical to success.

“Engineering solutions are best delivered by multi-disciplinary teams of men and women working creatively together, so there is a commercial as well as a social imperative to right the imbalance, and industry must make its case. Schools also have a duty to lead the drive in overcoming outdated perceptions about careers in engineering and ensure they are accessible to all.”

To celebrate NWED, women from Network Rail’s South East region gathered at the site of a major rail infrastructure project. Bermondsey Dive Under, a key element of the government sponsored Thameslink Programme, hosted the get together of 32 female staff who make up 14% of Network Rail’s workforce. A target of increasing this number to 30% is already in place.

Network Rail’s Director of Diversity and Inclusion, Loraine Martins, said: ““The railway industry is a great place to work and I encourage all women, and particularly those young women who are choosing their topics to study, to see the railway and engineering  as exciting and rewarding environments.

“Diversity and inclusion is important in our sector particularly if you are serious about improving performance and its safety. We know that where you have a diverse workforce you get greater creativity and innovation, and where you are inclusive you attract the best people.  And we want the best people to join us to help deliver our ambitious plans for the future or our railway.”

The WES has come a long way since its inception in 1919. However, there remains much to do and many women still feel isolated at college or in their workplaces. It is still the case that girls are not taking up the fantastic opportunities that an engineering career offers in the numbers that they are intellectually capable of. So WES continues to be an essential resource to promote engineering to girls and women and to support and encourage women in their careers at all stages.

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