Women in Engineering: Myths, Measures and Policies

Quality Education and Gender Equality are among the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 2030 adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015. Girls and women are the greatest untapped population who would contribute enormously to the growth of innovation. With evolving policies and institutional efforts to promote women scientists globally, there is a significant gap still lies in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education. A recent ground-breaking report of UNESCO reveals that only 35% of STEM students in higher education are women who result in 28% of the STEM workforce across all the world’s researchers. Differences are observed much wider in the hard sciences like mathematics, physics, engineering, and computer science. Other international research also shows that women make up just 12–15% of all engineers around the world. However, a recent survey report by the Royal Academy of Engineering revealed that over 80% of female engineers are happy in their job and 98% of women engineers find their job rewarding. Despite these facts, most of the nations are losing potential women engineers at every stage of life, and it starts from a young age because of bias and misconceptions in media. There are societal, cultural, institutional factors, and belief systems which are impediments to women in STEM. Gender stereotypes are part of societal belief and govern the attitudes towards female and male roles, their occupations, and their perception of masculine and feminine work. There are many myths and stereotype in a society which push women back in engineering career like girls are bad in Mathematics, engineering is ‘too difficult’ and require physical strength. Divergent attitudes formed by girls and boys in childhood and systemic biases limit the range of career options and opportunities available to them in adulthood. This study engages with women engineers to record the impact of available myths, unconscious biases, stereotypes, ongoing policies & programs and compare the findings to unfold some of their struggles which is linked to retaining women in engineering professions. Though no single strategy can entirely plug the leak, there is a need for a multi-faceted approach for debunking the myths and spreading the facts. Strengthen the capacity of countries to deliver gender-responsive education, including through the involvement of women role models, their photographs in textbooks, teachers’ training, and enhance awareness of the importance of engineering education for girls and women. To achieve all targets of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and future wellbeing, the engineering workforce must equally represent by women.