UK has half as many women engineers as other European countries
EngineeringUK is to commission research to find out why the number of women engineers in the UK is half that of most European countries.
Citing research conducted by UKRC, EngineeringUK's chief executive Paul Jackson, pictured, said just 9% of engineering professionals in the UK are women, compared to 18% in Spain, 20% in Italy and 26% in Sweden.
"The fact that the proportion of female engineering professionals in the UK is the lowest in Europe is shocking. It's essential we get behind these figures and understand why; what is it that our European neighbours are doing differently; what can we learn from them? Over the next twelve months, EngineeringUK will be commissioning research to understand what lies beneath this disparity and what the UK must do differently in future to address it."