Dr Laura Norton
Head of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, The Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET), and Managing Director, WISE
STEM isn’t as inclusive as it could be, with many women either leaving the profession or failing to enter it. What can we do to change that?
Women make up only 15.7% of the UK engineering workforce, declining from 16.5% in 2023. This increases to 29% across all science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) industries.1 That’s not yet good enough.
STEM still isn’t inclusive enough
Data from EngineeringUK last year also confirms a spike in women aged 35–44 leaving the profession, consistent with registration data published by the Engineering Council.2 A gender gap still exists across engineering gateway subjects being studied, too, threatening our future talent pipeline. So, STEM isn’t as inclusive an industry as it could be, and we want to change that.
The equality opportunity
Engineers develop products and services for everyone, so we must ensure diversity of thought to create the right solutions that work for all. Without this, we can’t solve complex societal challenges like improving healthcare or tackling climate change.
We’ve partnered with WISE to accelerate the pursuit of gender equality and want 35% of core UK STEM roles to be filled by women by 2030. We have many efforts supporting this, including our Young Woman Engineer of the Year Awards and Achievement Awards. Organisations must make a difference and embed diversity and inclusion in everything they do.
STEM isn’t as inclusive an industry as it
could be, and we want to change that.
Our top inclusion tips
- Think about how attractive you are as an employer for women. What language are you using? Do you offer flexible hours?
- Showcase employee talent. Whether via case studies or larger campaigns and awards, it’s important to shine a light on excellence.
- Introduce mentoring; it’s a great way for people to learn from others.
- Embed inclusive practices and processes. It’s okay to start small.l Sometimes, little changes make the biggest impact.
- Learn from good practice and build communities where we can honestly discuss issues and find ways forward.
Make your organisation more inclusive: theiet.org/edi
[1] gov.uk, 2023.
[2] Engineering Council, Professional Registration Statistics, 2023.
