Women in Engineering: breaking the myths
Credit: Eureka, Mark Allen Group
06.12.2022
Download as PDFTR Fastenings’ Global Projects and Marketing Director, Glenda Roberts, discusses the importance in breaking down the myths of women in engineering.
According to a report by EngineeringUK, women make up just 16.5% of all engineers - women remain underrepresented in the engineering sector. Glenda’s experience in a variety of differing roles within TR Fastenings, a leading specialist in the design, engineering, manufacture and distribution of industrial fastenings, means she has developed extensive knowledge on how products are produced and manufactured from start to finish. Glenda has seen a difference in gender ratios both within TR and at their customer base over the last 30 years.
" A career in Engineering was perceived as ‘you’ll get your hands dirty as you’ll be in an oily production environment.’ In truth, it is a million miles away from that because much of the product we produce is often electronically or robotically assembled in very clean facilities.
Crack the Code reported that education systems are vital in determining girls’ interest in STEM-related subjects. The engineering stereotypes, such as it being a ‘male industry’ and ‘dirty’ is “a myth that needs to be exploded. "
Numerous organisations and higher education institutions are working to close the gender gap in engineering. For instance, the Government’s T-Level courses include STEM subjects such as Engineering and Manufacturing. Glenda stated, “we need to educate people more generally about the opportunities within an engineering environment, specifically women. It is about understanding what engineering means – being able to see a product from inception all the way through to the final part.” TR’s new website, created in house, features an extensive Knowledge Base of engineering data, and interactive product and sector animations. TR is increasingly seeing their data being accessed by universities as STEM becomes the hot topic in education.
Despite a rising figure in the proportion of women entering undergraduate courses in STEM subjects, there remains to be an unmet demand for higher-level STEM skills in manufacturing, construction, engineering, science, and technology (Gov.uk). “It is about opening people’s minds up to how extensive the engineering opportunities are.”
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