Are more women starting to join the manufacturing and engineering industry? This blog discusses and discovers the career progression and job opportunities that are now available to women.
Currently, the average manufacturing and engineering company within the UK is made up of 85% men and 15% women. In manufacturing, the share of women in the workforce breaks down to 33% of junior-level staff, 24% of middle-level staff, 15% of senior-level staff and only 9% at CEO level. Historically, women within the manufacturing and engineering industry have been underrepresented.
Data from LinkedIn, when looking further into the leadership gap, has shown a marginal dop in positions being filled by men. In the UK, 69% of leadership roles are held by men, and female leadership hires have increased by less than 1% every year since 2016.
With the rising costs of childcare blocking the advancement of women climbing the career ladder, research has shown that an estimated £7.5 billion would be put into the economy if women, who currently aren’t working due to unaffordable childcare, were in full-time employment (research from the charity ‘Save the Children’). Also, 77% of women have reported that they have had a negative experience during pregnancy, maternity leave and coming back to work.
Women’s career progression appears to come to a halt when they reach a certain age, this is due to menopause. If businesses want to benefit from having women in their leadership team, they need to offer menopause support, awareness and strategies.
The Office for National Statistics figures place manufacturing job vacancies at 84,000 between September and November 2022. An analysis of the trends of women in engineering has shown there has been a 6% increase since 2010. The increasing number of women in engineering roles continued to rise during Covid-19 even when the overall number of people working in engineering fell in 2020 and 2021. In 2022 women make up 37% of manufacturing workers and 16.5% of those working in the engineering workforce.
When looking at differences in sectors, a report from EngineeringUK showed that women make up 12.5% of those within the engineering sector, compared to 24.4% of women working in roles outside the engineering sector. Suggesting industries not associated with engineering are more successful in attracting female talent.
Leading manufacturer MSP has produced a whitepaper on Women in Manufacturing, reviewing the industry’s weaknesses in attracting and retaining female talent. Discovering the shortcomings is a result of continued under-representation and differences found between genders, education, and career. However, this has led to training opportunities and career progressions within manufacturing. The white paper also outlined a solution to gear towards opening the doors early in STEM careers, by encouraging and improving opportunities for females through apprenticeship schemes and learning support.
Research by IBM found only 1 in 4 organisations make the advancement of women a top 10 priority. They also found that organisations with gender parity as a strategy have a successful business model and outperform competitors in innovation, revenue growth and customer and employee satisfaction.
Innovations and a greater demand for skills that weren’t needed 30 years ago are opening up opportunities for women. Technology has made factory environments more appealing and career progression is now numerous and varied. In present years, women in manufacturing are working on the shop floor, with machinery, in Research and Development, and in management and senior positions. Women have brought many positives to the manufacturing industry, such as diverse perspectives and creative solutions.
There has been a positive change in the last 30 years in the industry, with there being more prospects in different aspects of a business for women. The figures show that more women are joining the industry thanks to the career progression and job opportunities available to them.
Overall, as the manufacturing industry is vital to the economy, creating an inclusive environment will attract both men and women to upcoming roles and create success for a business. Furthermore, there is an urge for industry leaders to be proactive in tackling the gender leadership gap.
With thanks to:
https://www.microspring.co.uk/white-paper-women-in-manufacturing-state-of-the-industry-2023/
https://www.linkedin.com/news/story/tackling-the-leadership-gap-5576660/
