Engineering news
Some 54% of people cannot name a single female engineer or scientist, with one in 10 mistakenly naming Isambard Kingdom Brunel as a female engineer, a YouGov poll has revealed.
The survey, which was conducted for pressure group ScienceGrrl, highlights the lack of relatable female role models that currently exist in engineering and science, with 68% of the people questioned choosing Marie Curie when asked to name a famous, still-living female scientist, despite her having been dead for more than 80 years.
The results of the poll coincide with the launch of ScienceGrrl's new report called Through Both Eyes, which highlights the hurdles faced by women that limit their subject choices and career prospects in science, technology, engineering and maths (Stem) careers.
Previous research has shown that the UK has the lowest proportion of female engineers in Europe. The proportion of A-level physics students who are female has remained around 20% for the past 20 years. The report questions why the issue of girls being under-represented in Stem has long been discussed in the media and caused concern amongst industry and government, yet has prompted very little real change.
The report says: “There is broad recognition that girls and women represent untapped talent, and that enabling them to realise their potential is as much about growing the UK economy as it is about social justice. Why then, despite widespread concern, is progress frustratingly slow?”
The report also suggests that gender imbalance in Stem is caused by deeply embedded gender stereotypes and unconscious bias. These stereotypes, it says, are formed from “pretty girl's toys” that reinforce physical perfection to female objectification in the media, and are so deeply embedded in our society they have become “invisible hurdles”.
ScienceGrrl has called on the government to take a lead in this field: “There is a wealth of academic knowledge about gender science and gender equality; this needs to be integrated into public policy. We want government, and the public and the private Stem sectors to work together to empower individual free choice.”
Conservative MP Peter Luff, who worked on the report with ScienceGrrl, said: “We have been talking about the underrepresentation of women in Stem for decades. This authoritative report is a call to stop talking and start doing.”