There have been dozens of pan-industry initiatives aimed at getting more women into engineering. Yet the take-up figure has stubbornly remained low, at around 6%. Such a gender imbalance does not reflect well on our sector, said readers. Indeed, almost two-thirds went so far as to say that it was an embarrassment. There was a lot of positive sentiment among the write-in replies about the importance of doing something about the gender problem - but also an admittance that it was going to take many years to do so.
Yes: 64%
No: 29%
Don't know: 7%
One way of targetting the gender issue would be to throw more money at it. And again, two-thirds of readers thought there was merit to this. But others voiced caution, saying specific gender initiatives had been tried before, and had evidently had little impact. Good money after bad, said one reader.
3. Do you think your company does enough to attract young female engineers?
Yes: 61%
No: 24%
Don't know: 15%
The high Yes vote reflects greater efforts by some companies to attract more female engineers. But the Yes vote was also bolstered by those who felt that the gender issue didn’t need addressing at all - there were no barriers to women, said some, so why make special efforts?
4. Are you aware of any specific diversity initiatives at your place of work?
Yes: 38%
No: 54%
Don't know: 8%
A mixed bag here. Some firms have very high-profile gender campaigns, but most engineers said they weren’t aware of any internal initiatives.
5. Have you ever witnessed any sexual discrimination during your career as an engineer?
Yes: 31%
No: 67%
Don't know: 2%
The No vote here was voiced with caution. Many readers said that while they hadn’t witnessed discrimination, that didn’t mean it didn’t exist.
6. Do you think the public image of engineering is damaged by its lack of diversity?
Yes: 52%
No: 40%
Don't know: 8%
It can’t make sense to be attracting staff from only half of the available workforce. And most readers said the lack of diversity harmed the public image of engineering. The No vote was high though: many readers said there were no gender barriers, and therefore they didn’t lose sleep over it.
7. Would you describe engineering, on the whole, as an inclusive and welcoming profession?
Yes: 80%
No: 15%
Don't know: 5%
This question elicited a vehement response - with four fifths of readers saying they felt engineering was, on the whole, an inclusive and welcoming profession. Of course, the gender statistics being what they are, it’s fair to assume that most of those who replied were men. Playing devil’s advocate, maybe if the question was asked to an almost entirely female sample group, the response would be very different.
8. Do you support the concept of enforceable quotas to get more women into boardroom roles?
Yes: 9%
No: 87%
Don't know: 4%
The write-in replies indicated very strong sentiment against the concept of enforceable quotas to get more women into boardroom roles. Appointments needed to be made on ability alone, they said. If a woman were the best candidate then she would be appointed, it was claimed time and time again.