Both women and men make excellent hairdressers and both women
and men make outstanding engineers. So
why, when we imagine an Engineer, do we think of a man? Both Sciences and Engineering in the UK are
struggling to attract people into training and careers in their fields. This is a critical issue for the UK, with growing
numbers of technical jobs either being filled from outside the UK or the jobs
themselves moving away. One obvious
reason for this problem is that we are only recruiting from half the potential
talent pool.
The number of girls doing A level Physics has not changed in
the last thirty years and remains shamefully low. The number of young women engaged in
technical Apprenticeships is tiny; yet, the overall number of women in other Apprenticeships
is higher than men. The reasons for this
are both simple and very complex.
Someone said that all children are Engineers at the age of eight and
then we beat it out of them. We seem to
beat it out of the girls even more successfully.
Studying Science and the Natural World leads us to some of
the most wonderful, dramatic, satisfying and interesting discoveries. Stimulating children’s interest in the
wonders of our world is intensely rewarding.
Being involved in the application of Science in Engineering and Technology
is exciting and satisfying. So why are
we so poor at getting young women into Science and Engineering? We need to change the way we see the future
for girls and young women and offer them a better opportunity to learn and
contribute to our future. The young
women in Engineering that I have met are talented, capable and bright. They are valued for their ability and effort
and rewarded accordingly. Engineering is
neither dirty, oil stained nor physically hard work. In this age of financial austerity, it is
well paid. So let us encourage parents
and teachers to be open minded about the future of their children and to
positively encourage them to understand and marvel at the wonders of the world
around us.
- Howard Railton, SATRO Trustee
