To mark International Women in Engineering Day (INWED), EngineeringUK has released new estimates highlighting the potential for women to increase their earnings through careers in engineering and technology.
Across the economy, women are concentrated in lower-paid sectors and occupations. In contrast, roles in engineering and technology pay the equivalent of £9,000 a year above the average of all occupations.
EngineeringUK estimates that 240,000 people are needed to join the engineering and technology workforce each year. If half of these were women, there would be around £1billion more in their collective pockets every year, compared to if they went into other roles. Yet currently women make up only 17 per cent of the UK workforce in engineering and technology.
In addition to its impact on women’s earning potential, the gender imbalance in engineering and technology inhibits the government’s ability to address workforce shortages in the sectors of greatest economic growth or to close the gender pay gap.
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‘The UK needs a thriving, diverse engineering and technology workforce to support economic growth, national security and sustainability,’ said Hilary Leevers, chief executive of EngineeringUK. ‘We need to grow both the size and diversity of the current workforce to address shortages and enhance productivity and innovation. It’s vital that we have more young people, particularly young women, on education and training pathways into engineering and technology.There would be literally millions more women in the engineering and technology workforce if they were present at the same rates as men. This would meet the country’s workforce needs and women themselves would benefit financially – the definition of a win-win.’
EngineeringUK, together with partners across the engineering and technology community, has built the Gender Pathways Collective. This partnership is driving a collective mission to significantly increase the number of girls and young women in education pathways to engineering and technology by the age of 18.
To mark INWED, EngineeringUK is calling for action to tackle the gender imbalance in engineering and technology, seeking to engage the secretary of state for education and the minister for women and equalities with the work of the Gender Pathways Collective and working with the Gender Pathways Collective on a blueprint for action for government to be launched this in September.
More information about the Gender Pathways Collective and its work to inspire more women into engineering and tech can be found here.