Women coming up Trumps

As the dust begins to settle on the most bitterly fought presidential election campaign our generation has witnessed, I would like to focus on the message of hope offered by Hilary Clinton during her closing words. Whatever your views on the candidate and her attempted rise to power, her concession speech left a message of inspiration, with its content poignant to everyone. Relevant I feel, to the UK Engineering Sector. In her closing speech, following her quest for the White House, she left us with this message…

“Now, I know we have still not shattered that highest and hardest glass ceiling, but someday someone will — and hopefully sooner than we might think right now. And to all of the little girls who are watching this, never doubt that you are valuable and powerful and deserving of every chance and opportunity in the world to pursue and achieve your own dreams.”

In a campaign fuelled by back biting and playground swipes, Hilary’s words shone a beacon on the struggles of women striving to achieve equal footing in comparison to their male counterparts. A reflection I then had of the women within the UK Engineering sector still fighting for the chance to be given the same opportunities, pay and rights, as their male equivalents.

In 2016, 103 years’ after Emily Davison stepped in front of the Kings horse in the Epson Derby to fight for women’s suffrage, are women still being held back and their aspirations being left redundant?

Firstly here are some general statistics of the UK:

• Women make up 47% of the UK workforce

• 17.3% of FTSE 100 directorships and 13.2% of FTSE 250 directorships are held by women

• 34% of board appointments on FTSE 100 since 1 March 2012 have been women

• 7 of FTSE 100 company boards and 67 of FTSE 250 company boards are all-male

• Over the last decade, 20% more is how much a male graduate can expect to earn on average, than a female graduate. The gap is wider for non–degree holders at 23%

• £28,700 was the median gross annual earnings for male full-time employees for the tax year ending 5 April 2012, while for women the figure was £23,100

• There are 2.11 million men and 5.85 million women in part-time employment

(source Business in the Community: Women and Work Facts)

Now let’s look into women working specifically in Engineering:

• Only 9% of the engineering workforce is female.(1) And only 6% of registered engineers and technicians (i.e. CEng, IEng, EngTech) are women.(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%

• In 2013/14, women accounted for only 3.8% of Engineering apprenticeship starts and 1.7% of Construction Skills starts

(Source Women in Engineering Society)

Not great huh? The above figures, I feel, do seem to reflect Hilary’s stance that women in the employment market are still held back by this proverbial glass ceiling and as such, are still under-represented in the UK workforce. And whilst Hilary’s message is one of hope and inspiration, I feel it would be ill-fitting of me to pour further scorn on the situation, I instead I want to further promote confidence regarding what can be achieved.

• Enabling women to meet their full potential in work could add as much as $28 trillion to annual GDP in 2025.

• In a survey of 300 female engineers, 84% were either happy or extremely happy with their career choice

• Diversity matters: companies are 15% more likely to perform better if they are gender diverse

• Diversity is crucial for innovation: in a global survey, 85% corporate diversity and talent leaders agreed that “A diverse and inclusive workforce is crucial to encouraging different perspectives and ideas that drive innovation”

(Source Women in Engineering Society)

There is still a lot more that can be done to address the gender balance in the UK, and though society has moved on from the dark days of Emily Davison’s activism, we’re still not quite there yet in terms of being equal. The above statistics show there is a clear need to ensure industries become balanced. Within Engineering we simply need to be more open-minded, provide more opportunities and promote the sectors from a young age, embedding the idea that anything is possible.