A new report published today by the EEF, the manufacturers' organisation has found nine out of ten engineers in the UK are male with only 20% of the manufacturing and engineering workforce female. This is compared to 49% in other sectors overall.
Furthermore, since 2008 the number of female engineers has gone up just 1% to 6%. This leaves a huge disparity compared to the rest of Europe with 18% in Spain, 20% in Italy and 26% in Sweden.
So what can we do to increase the pipeline of female engineers?
There is strong evidence suggesting we need to encourage more women to study the STEM (Science, technology, engineering and mathematics) subjects. There also needs to be different routes to qualifications - apprenticeships, vocational topics and flexible work options. It will also become increasingly important to get successful female engineers and those working in the manufacturing sector to speak with, and become involved in a national campaign to
promote engineer as a career path.
You can find the entire press release by the EEF here
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