• Question: What do you think about the stereotype that engineering is a 'male - only' job?

    Asked by Caitlin J. to Philippa, Paula, Matthew, Neil, Pete on 14 Mar 2015. This question was also asked by 534sftb43.
    • Photo: Neil Taylor

      Neil Taylor answered on 14 Mar 2015:

      Hi Caitlin J.!

      I think that it is a stereotype that is still present in some cases, unfortunately.

      The latest figures that I read (2013 IET Skills Survey) show that only around 7% of the engineering workforce are female – which is a shame, because I believe that women are equally as capable of becoming engineers as men.

      I think that we (as a society) need to help change some of these stereotypes and attitudes – it’s the right thing to do. It’s also something that we will need to address sooner rather than later if we want to remain competitive as a country, because engineers are going to be in increasing demand in years to come…

      …and ensuring that we are encourage 100% of the population to become engineers instead of 50% seems like a great way of increasing our chances of producing the engineers we need!

      Hope this helps!

    • Photo: Philippa Jefferis

      Philippa Jefferis answered on 15 Mar 2015:

      I think it is a very misguided stereotype and it is causing us big problems when we come to tackle global challenges. We need everyone’s help and support, and being male doesn’t make you any better at engineering. Gender has no impact on your ability to be creative and think up solutions to problems.

      Sadly the stereotype exists but I hope to become a successful engineer and help break down that stereotype by showing that anyone can do engineering – gender doesn’t matter.

    • Photo: Pete Symons

      Pete Symons answered on 16 Mar 2015:

      Hi Caitlin,

      A really thought provoking question and one that has been asked a lot on professional engineering forums (see if you can get into the link below)

      https://www.linkedin.com/groupItem?view=&gid=1146787&type=member&item=5968285653836800001&trk=groups_items_see_more-0-b-ttl

      But the I believe the stereotype that engineering is a mans job is a hang over from the man in greasy overalls fixing the car. The term ‘engineer’ is still got a stigma attached to it although its I really believe that its starting to be recognised as a more broad term. In terms of woman in engineering, some of the best engineers I know are women but I still think the problem about the uptake of women in engineering lies in schools, I think that girls are more likely to take up softer skill and social sciences as opposed to engineering, but I believe that it down to a societal issue.

      I have two daughters and I really hope that they would at least look at engineering as an option, if only because engineering is really great profession!

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