White, two sugars and a dash of inclusion: equality in engineering

Baroness Lorely Burt, Liberal Democrat peer and party’s spokesperson for small businesses and women, explores engineering’s equality crisis with The Made in Group, incorporating Made in the Midlands and Made in Yorkshire.

Currently, women account for 47% of Britain’s labour force, but just 9% of the country’s engineering workforce. The results of an extensive study on equality in engineering by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) showed that, regardless of their qualifications and background, female engineers often find themselves relegated to menial roles, such as taking notes or making coffee. So, this 9% aren’t necessarily making a meaningful contribution to engineering.

We don’t need statistics to tell us that the sector has an equality problem. A glimpse at any engineering trade show, networking event or factory floor will illustrate that the industry is underperforming at attracting women and people from diverse backgrounds.

Encouragement in education

According to research by the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET), almost half of young people believe that men are better suited to engineering careers than women. Why? Because outdated perceptions of the industry are widespread. Engineering has long been portrayed an ‘oily rag’ profession — but there’s so much more to the field than manual labour on the factory floor.

In a report by engineering consultancy, Atkins, 70% of female engineers believe that better careers advice in schools would improve gender imbalance in the industry. In compulsory education, there’s little understanding or exploration of the variety of engineering career paths available, resulting in a lack of inspiration for young women.

Today’s engineering industry provides a hub of creative opportunities for young women. From programming for enterprise software, to design engineering for medical devices — not to mention the opportunity to explore emerging technologies like machine learning, artificial intelligence and advanced additive manufacturing.

There’s also no shortage of schemes and initiatives to encourage women to pursue an engineering career. Apprenticeships, for example, are increasing year-on-year. Engineering apprenticeships offer women an opportunity earn money and a recognised qualification while they gain real-life engineering skills. However, many businesses aren’t taking advantage of the apprenticeship levy that’s available to them.

There are also fantastic links between universities and manufacturers in the UK, many of which champion their high-achieving female engineering students. While research proves that the number of women studying engineering is increasing, 40% of these budding female engineers will abandon the sector within five years of graduating.

It would be easy to blame oft-cited motives for women leaving the engineering field, such plans to start a family. But according to the results the MIT study, most women leave for one simple reason: a lack of inclusivity.

Beyond the classroom

Exclusion in the workplace isn’t caused by missing staff outings or failing to befriend the production manager — the problem stems from a feeling of not belonging. The engineering sector is dominated by white males, and it would be thoughtless to expect anyone who doesn’t fit into this typecast to seamlessly integrate into the environment.

Companies need to examine what they are doing to encourage diverse recruitment and, more importantly, what happens when these recruits come on board. Corporate policies should be designed to welcome women, ethnic minorities and people with disabilities, or businesses risk losing them. Engineers are intelligent people. Without supplying them with a clear trajectory for growth and an inclusive environment, they won’t stick around for long.

Some industry leaders believe that positive discrimination is the most effective method to address gender, race and disability imbalance in engineering. Having a legal quota for employee diversity would achieve immediate results, but it won’t deliver long term change. Starting your engineering career because of a diversity programme isn’t an empowering notion, it won’t benefit efforts for inclusivity in the workplace and it’s certainly not legal.

Before having rules forced on them, companies should examine their own efforts for equality and inclusivity. Inclusivity isn’t only a box ticking exercise, it is a way to build a better, sustainable workforce. Encouraging diversity is unarguably, the moral thing to do. But, many manufacturers fail to consider the commercial benefits that this increase in diversity could reap.

Reaping the rewards

Manufacturing companies have a habit of hiring ‘people like us’ — those from the same gender, race and general background of education. But, how can a business make informed decisions when everyone’s viewpoint is the same? Frankly, they can’t. Diversity is necessary to make creative, innovative and considerate decisions. Your customers are diverse, so the people looking after them should be too.

Ultimately, companies make better choices when their workforce is diverse, but there are other, more tangible advantages to employing from a wider talent pool. Some larger construction projects are now setting predefined diversity and equality requirements for its suppliers.

The High Speed 2 (HS2) rail project, for example, has aims to set new industry standards for equality and inclusion by setting a diversity specification for their tier one suppliers. If a supplier doesn’t reach this set requirement, it won’t win the contract to work on HS2.

Regional membership organisations are also taking steps to encourage diversity in the workplace. According to the Office for National Statistics, the West Midlands’ engineering industry has the worst female employment rate of the six combined local authorities in the country. To reverse this trend, Made in the Midlands has recently launched its own equality and inclusivity campaign.

“Low female employment rates in Midlands’ engineering sector is a cause for concern,” explains Jason Pitt, CEO of Made in the Midlands and the Made in Group. “However, engaging and attracting new people from underrepresented groups, including women and ethnic minorities, is crucial for employers wanting to improve their productivity and grow more quickly. This is why we are introducing a campaign that will encourage businesses to audit their approach to diversity and achieve a new kite mark that demonstrates their commitment to inclusivity.”

Balancing equality in manufacturing will take time and dedication from stakeholders to ensure that the issue is made a priority. This change won’t happen overnight. But without a doubt, change is happening, and I will continue to work closely with organisations like Made in the Midlands and Made in Yorkshire to make sure it is a positive change.

Made in The Midlands www.madeinthemidlands.com