Dr Laura Norton
Head of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, The Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET), and Managing Director, WISE
From manufacturing seatbelts that are safe for all genders to designing disabled-friendly buildings, inclusive thinking is critical in all industries, especially in engineering and technology.
In a 2021 IET survey, only 3 in 10 engineering organisations said they had taken action to improve the diversity of their technical workforce. Organisations should, though, as they could be missing out on a wealth of talent, which is vital to ensuring innovation and future success.
The scale of inclusion
We currently focus on championing gender parity and neuro-inclusion, with 20% of the general population estimated to be neurodivergent in some way (reflected when surveying our volunteer population). Data on neurodiversity in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) is quite limited, and our 2023 research confirmed the need for changes to better support neurodivergent individuals — not just for their benefit but for everyone.
From a gender perspective, only 15.7% of the UK engineering workforce are women,1 dropping slightly from 16.5% in 2023; this increases to 29% across all STEM industries.2 Data released in May this year also shows a worrying spike in women aged 35–44 leaving engineering (Engineering UK, 2024), consistent with registration data published by the Engineering Council. A gender gap remains across engineering gateway subjects being studied, too — a cause for concern to our future talent pipeline.
We’ve partnered with WISE to accelerate the
pursuit of gender equality in the industry.
Proactive efforts
We’ve partnered with WISE to accelerate the pursuit of gender equality in the industry, with ambitions to have 35% of core UK STEM roles filled by women by 2030. Our education and award programmes support this, championing incredible women engineers and challenging outdated stereotypes.
The work goes far beyond this though, with efforts to embed equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) in a variety of different areas, internally and externally. From supporting a pioneering project to have an unassisted wheelchair ascend Yr Wyddfa to piloting braille access to a children’s robotics competition — alongside partnerships, research, campaigns, networking and more — impact is best achieved not in isolation but through integrated activity and commitment at all levels.
Share your thoughts and get involved at theiet.org/edi
[1] Engineering UK, 2024
[2] gov.uk, 2023
