According to Cleveland Bridge, a global specialist in the design and construction of steel bridges and structures, there’s ‘no denying that there is a gender imbalance’ when it comes to engineering.
In the UK, only 12 percent of engineers are female, the company notes, with common concerns and barriers to entry noted as a lack of role models, sexism in the workplace, a concern over progression prospects, etc, But while these remain valid obstacles, there’s a greater issue impacting British engineering in general, and a lack of female engineers is a symptom of a greater problem within the sector. After all, if it were simply a case of engineering in general throwing up obstacles for women, why does Spain have a relatively even number of male and female engineers?
What if it’s not simply a case of engineering shutting its doors on a pool of potential talent. What if men and women alike just aren’t knocking at the door of British engineering, Cleveland Bridge asks
Desirability, not ability
When it comes to addressing the lack of female engineers, Cleveland Bridge notes that phrases such as ‘it’s because girls are brought up to believe they can’t do maths!’ or ‘it’s because we treat engineering as a man’s job’ are often bandied around.
This might have been true many decades ago, but in the modern day, it’s been quite some time since such strong gender biases were in play at an educational level. There is still work to be done, of course, but the idea of an entire sector being cordoned off as ‘careers for men’ and ‘careers for women’ has long since been kicked to the curb. Indeed, female students are under no illusions that engineering is, as far as they are concerned, as valid an option for them as it is for their male classmates.
Research by EngineeringUK highlighted this, with 94% of girls at school leaving age (16–19) in 2019 saying they agreed that engineering is suitable for boys and girls. 81% of boys at school leaving age in 2019 agreed too.
It’s not that girls don’t think they can be engineers, then. A perception of ability is not the problem. A perception of engineering as a desirable career, however, is certainly in play. And it’s getting worse, according to Cleveland Bridge when citing EngineeringUK’s figures.
The perception of engineering as a desirable career path is dropping among 11-14 year old girls and 16-19 year old girls in particular. This could be cited as proof that more needs to be done to break down barriers and build up role models for potential female engineers in order to make the career path look more attainable and aspirational for women.
However, it’s important to note that boys are not much more enthralled by the idea of becoming engineers either, with a slight decrease also present in figures from 2015 versus those from 2019.
There is certainly a case to be made for the damaging effects of gender stereotypes, but clearly, girls are confident that they are equally capable to pursue engineering as a career – if they wanted to. EngineeringUK surmised that, ‘Barriers to pursuing STEM education and engineering careers, such as those relating to a lack of knowledge of engineering, may be common to both genders and point to the importance of stepping up engagement with all young people.’
Engineering in the UK, it seems, is simply not showcasing itself as a desirable career path to either genders, and the impact of this is simply showing more in a lack of female engineers due to the residual remnants of gendered stereotypes amplifying the overall problem.
But why is engineering not appealing to men and women?
Engineering is appealing
This is not a global problem. The UK ranks as the lowest in Europe when it comes to female representation in its engineering workforce, according to further information issued by EngineeringUK..
Civil engineer Jessica Green notes that the issue is certainly on a national scale. In the UK, engineering simply isn’t presented with any of the glamour or prestige that parallel occupations, such as architecture, are afforded, she opines. In fact, Ms Green admits she herself ‘turned her nose up at engineering’, believing that to go down that route would mean spending her career ‘dressed in overalls working in tunnels’.
That, she points out, is the concept of engineering that the UK pushes out. Despite the years of academic study and on-the-job training that many engineering roles require, for some reason, engineering is denied its rightful sense of achievement and prestige.
Meanwhile, as Ms Green notes, being able to call yourself an engineer in Spain is certainly held in high regard. One cannot call themselves an engineer at all without going through a difficult six-year university process, after which the title of engineer is awarded. It is held in the same regard as becoming a doctor. It’s little wonder then that Spain enjoys a relatively even number of male and female engineers.
Meanwhile, in the UK, the word ‘engineer’ is used far more loosely. Not only that, but there’s a sense of ambiguity in the UK regarding what an engineer is. A lack of representation compared to other prestigious roles, such as doctors or lawyers, means that many people simply think of overalls and hard hats when it comes to engineers – despite the fact that plenty of engineers work in office environments or in a digital field.
Prestige
It is clear that engineering as a whole needs to rebrand itself in the UK, according to Cleveland Bridge, and not just for women. Female students in the UK are perfectly confident in their ability to become engineers, so instead of a feeling that they need to prove themselves to the engineering sector, it is in fact the engineering sector that needs to prove itself to potential employees.
Diane Boon, director of commercial operations at Cleveland Bridge, states, ‘To be a woman in engineering – as with everything in life – you need to work hard. But so do the men. Being a woman has neither helped nor hindered my career in this incredible field.
‘What engineering needs to do smarter is raise its profile, and make itself more appealing to future generations. It needs to reposition itself.’
