As we’ve talked about many times in these pages, there is an acute skills shortage in engineering here (and in the rest of the developed world come to that.)
One of the relatively obvious ways to sort this problem is to encourage more women into the sector. Women comprise 48% of Australia’s workforce, yet just 13% of the nation’s working engineers.
So, Engineering Australia conducted some research to find some answers and what needs to happen to change this vast disparity.
Women in Engineering Report reveal that the biggest reason girls don’t choose to study engineering is that they simply don’t know what it is, and what engineers do.
Engineers Australia Chief Engineer, Jane MacMaster says the findings are a clarion call for swift political action to rectify this and address the gender imbalance.
The research findings did identify other more specific reasons why women didn’t consider engineering as a career. These are detailed in the article below.
However, the study did suggest a variety of initiatives that could turn this situation around. One key factor is early intervention and education at the primary school level and onwards to get engineering on the ‘option’ list for girls.
More exposure and promotion of the profession early would help both women and men consider it as a rewarding career path.
The following link has a more detailed list of both findings and solutions to this issue.