Celebrating our female engineers this INWED23!

A day for celebration, reflection, and action for a brighter future. 

International Women in Engineering Day (INWED) will be celebrated on Friday 23rd June 2023, and was created by Women’s Engineering Society, aiming to promote the work of female engineers across the world and to tackle the underrepresentation of women in the industry.

This year, the day will celebrate its 10th anniversary with the theme #MakeSafetySeen.

Women in engineering today

According to Women’s Engineering Society (as reported March 2022):

• 16.5% of all engineers are female. This has increased from 10.5% as reported in 2010.
• The actual number of women employed in engineering roles increased from 562,000 in 2010 to 936,000 in 2021.
• Although there has been an overall increase in the engineering workforce between 2010 and 2021, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the total number of people working in engineering fell between 2020 and 2021. Despite this, the increase of women in engineering roles continued during this time.

According to the Nuclear Sector Deal, women currently make up 22% of the nuclear workforce. However, the nuclear sector aims to increase the involvement of women in nuclear to 40% by 2030.

What can we do to encourage more females to build careers within engineering?

Although we’ve seen an increase in women in engineering over the last few years, there’s still lots of progress to be made. Some of the ways we can encourage more females into engineering include:

• Outreach work in schools – this will encourage more girls to think about careers in engineering and STEM subjects from a young age.
• Mentorship – the increased recruitment of female engineers is a huge step in the right direction; however, retention also holds the same importance. Mentorship is one step we can take to ensure more women in engineering feel heard, supported, and more confident in the workplace.
• Champion contract opportunities – the flexibility of contracting can be a great option for those who seek a work-life and work-family balance, which is perfect for women who are both career driven, and family orientated. Let’s champion flexible contracting with permanent stability for female engineers within nuclear and beyond!

If you’re taking part in celebrations this International Women in Engineering Day, make sure to join the conversation on social media by using #INWED23.