Can you imagine an equal gender split in engineering? I can

By Puja Hazlehurst, Head of Product Engineering at Caeli Nova

When we talk about shaping the future of engineering, we tend to focus on innovation and the demand for new skills. While these are undeniably important, I believe we can transform the future of engineering long before a student chooses an engineering course or steps into their first job. It begins with the stories society tells children, the encouragement (or silence) they hear in classrooms, and the perceptions about who belongs in what career.

In the UK, women make up 16% of the 6.3 million people working in engineering. Compare that to 10% in 2010, that’s a 60% increase in 15 years. While the numbers are still low, the direction is promising and worth celebrating.

Entering the engineering profession is challenging for anyone. But for women, it often comes with an additional layer of obstacles. A woman stands out more. She feels pressure to constantly prove herself. She carries the weight of past experiences of being treated differently and second-guessing whether her interests will be taken seriously, wondering if sharing who she is might somehow undermine her technical credibility. It is no surprise then, that women are not rushing to join the industry, or that many who do enter it, later leave.

Our perceptions of who can be an engineer are formed early, when children see books, toys, and media that associate technical roles with boys, or when family members respond with surprise to a girl’s interest in STEM careers.

Teachers play a vital role in shaping students’ confidence and aspirations. I was lucky to have a physics teacher who treated everyone equally, regardless of gender. But I also had a maths teacher who did not and I remember them both, for very different reasons! Needless to say, it took a while to rebuild my confidence in maths.

Female students who go on to study engineering at college or university often find themselves navigating discrimination from their peers without support. I’ve spoken to countless young women who are still brushed aside during group projects or told by male peers that their high grades and successes were a result of their gender, not their ability. These experiences chip away at confidence, long before they set foot in the workplace.

Then, just as careers start to take off, many women start to leave the profession at the age of 35. I believe the reasons for this are complex: women are less likely to advocate for themselves or pursue promotions often due to lack of visible role models. Some never get over the lack of confidence from their earlier experiences and do not see the point of pursuing a career not “made for them”. They may seek part-time roles to balance caregiving responsibilities or feel overlooked in environments that still reward narrow definitions of technical expertise. In some cases, workplaces still don’t meet basic needs that allow women to thrive.

Real progress requires collective action — from families, schools, universities, and industry, and here’s how we can start:

• In early childhood, we can be more intentional with our choices — the gifts we give, the stories we tell, the language we use. If a girl only gets dolls and fairy tales, we limit what she believes is possible. Let’s also give her science kits, model cars and planes, and books that show her she can build, lead, and invent if she wants to.
• In education, educators must set clear behaviour expectations early on and call out poor behaviour. Female students should know they are supported and can turn to someone they trust, because expecting a young woman to challenge poor behaviour alone is simply unrealistic.
• In the workplace, leaders have a responsibility to listen and understand the background and situations of those they are leading. Only by doing so, can leaders understand how to effectively lead, support individuals’ development needs and create an environment that provides for all genders equally. We need to ensure the workplace provides PPE and equipment for all body types, facilities for nursing mothers, flexibility for caring responsibilities and encouragement to apply for roles they are capable of fulfilling.

By taking these actions, we can help increase the number of females taking on STEM subjects and hopefully increase the rate of women entering the engineering workplace. With more voices and diverse experiences, we will accelerate our engineering creativity and innovation with incredible societal benefits.

Can you imagine a world where we achieve an equal gender split in engineering?

I can. And I believe, if we act together, we can build it.