Engineering news
The former Formula One champion and Santander UK ambassador appeared alongside a host of high-profile speakers at the Formula Student World Finals at Silverstone, run by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers.
He said female engineers are already making a big difference in motorsport, but that we need a far higher percentage in order to address imbalances.
“It is vital to push for more women working in mechanical engineering,” Button argued.
“Many Le Mans championships have been won by female engineers so there is obviously no reason why more females can’t get involved, including the driving.
“I’ve worked with very competitive women at the highest levels of engineering, but we need many more to enter the field."
The UK has a low number of female engineering and technology undergraduates, with just 15.8% of students studying related courses being women.
Recent surveys indicate that just 11% of the engineering workforce is female, making the UK home to the lowest percentage of female engineering professionals in Europe.
Rob Smedley, head of vehicle performance at Williams F1, who appeared alongside Button, said: “I think engineering has a real image problem that we need to work on.
“We get nowhere near enough females in the Formula One workplace. It’s getting better, but it’s nowhere near enough. I always try to get as many females into my group as possible because it’s an alpha male environment, and when you put girls into that mix then they act like the control rod. And what you get is a much better product.”
Formula Student boasts an above industry average number of females on competing teams (13%). Defending Formula Student champions Cardiff University have 23% women studying STEM subjects, which is 10% above the national average.
The event has benefited from support from programmes such as Santander Universities, which funds 11 of the competing teams as part of its work to inspire the next generation of engineers, encourage the study of STEM subjects and diversity in the field.
Since 2007, Santander Universities has invested £69m in supporting UK students and universities, providing over £10m in 2017 alone.
“Formula Student is massive and it’s great to see over a hundred teams competing," said Button. "They have put a year of their lives into competing here this weekend. Some of the cars that they engineered and the ideas that they have come up with are outstanding.”
Matt Hutnell, UK director of Santander Universities, said: “The reason we give back to higher education is that students are the future of society.
“In the UK Santander’s purpose is to help people and businesses to prosper, and there is not anything that we do that epitomises that more than what we are doing today and supporting higher education in general.”