Female engineers earn £10k less than their male colleagues

Female engineers in the UK earn £10k a year less on average than their male colleagues, according to a new salary survey.

The Engineer surveyed 2743 engineers across a range of sectors, and found that the average salary for UK engineers had risen by 6.6% over the last year, from £45k to £48k. 

However, women are lagging behind their male counterparts. Just 7% of the survey respondents were female, and as well as earning £10k a year less, the responses revealed that the pay gap widens as they rise through the ranks. At junior levels, the pay gap was £4k on average, while at director level it had widened to £20k. 

Averil MacDonald, a professor of physics at the University of Reading and a board member of WISE, which campaigns on behalf of women in science and engineering, told Professional Engineering that the reports findings were "troubling, but not surprising". 

"There is still unconscious bias in operation in even our best engineering employers and the requirement to publish their gender pay differences (next year) will show up some unfortunate results," she added.

She explained some of the reasons, including men being more likely to ask for a pay rise or negotiate when starting a new job, and employers seeing women as less likely to leave their jobs because they are "tied down" by children or their partners' career.

"It would seem that (some) UK engineering employers do not seek to reward if they don't need to, and  men are both valued for their ambition in demanding the pay rise, and seen as more likely to leave the job if they are not rewarded. Cumulatively women, over time, get fewer and lower pay rises leading to the £20k difference noted at the higher levels," said MacDonald.

She also argued that firms were missing out on different perspectives. "Sadly, engineering companies are not seeing their female employees as having an innate worth - they don't realise that the feminine life experience gives them a different perspective and approach that most male colleagues cannot offer," she said. "Only when employers recognise this, will all employees be fairly rewarded for their full contribution to the business."

The research also found that more than one-third of respondents were concerned about the impact of Brexit on their job security, and that 49% would consider relocating overseas.