Institution's response to the gender pay gap in the engineering sector

Peter Finegold, Head of Education Policy at the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, said about the gender pay gap in the engineering sector:

“Greater gender balance and diversity are essential for engineering organisations to become the highest performing companies they can be. Not only do businesses require the most talented employees, companies that embrace diverse experiences and points of view, have been shown to improve productivity.

“Although it is rather a blunt instrument, these figures reflect the important issue of under-representation of women in the sector and underscores how common it is that there not enough women in senior positions or lucrative roles.

“The research in our Stay or Go: The experience of female engineers in early career report highlights that within a few years of gaining an engineering degree, just under half of UK female engineering graduates will have left the profession. By contrast, at the same stage, two-thirds of male engineers remain in the sector. To achieve greater parity, employers must make the working environment and culture more conducive for women, so that there is less of a need to support female engineers to adapt and cope with an unaccommodating environment.

“The report commissioned by the Institution’s Equality and Diversity Steering Group, recommends the promotion and adoption of an industry-wide quality mark including pay parity so every company is crystal clear about what constitutes best practice.”

Notes to Editors

• For interview requests and queries contact the Institution of Mechanical Engineers’ Press Office on 020 7973 1261 or email media@imeche.org.
• The Institution of Mechanical Engineers was established in 1847 and has some of the world’s greatest engineers in its history books. It is one of the fastest growing professional engineering institutions. Headquartered in London, we have operations around the world and over 120,000 members in more than 140 countries working at the heart of the most important and dynamic industries such as the automotive, rail, aerospace, medical, power and construction industries.