The conversation around boosting the number of women engineers needs a radical rethink to consider a range of societal issues and entrenched prejudices, a leading Australian academic has argued.
Karen Whelan, Associate Dean at Queensland University of Technology’s (QUT) Faculty of Engineering, believes that focusing only on why young women at school and university choose to study science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects will only uncover part of a much wider challenge.
“I’ve worked in engineering education since 1996 and have seen the conversation change from ‘What can we do to make more women select engineering?’ to thinking about systemic issues within the discipline, organisations and society that contribute to the gender gap,” Whelan told create.
“The focus shouldn’t just be on women; it should be on organisational factors that restrict inclusivity. We should take a long look at how engineering in Australia operates and why so few women are involved.”
Unified approach
Whelan has identified pivotal leverage points for driving societal change and reshaping representation in engineering, including providing role models, enhancing engineering education, promoting diverse leadership, connecting with forward-looking industry partners, and engaging key influencers such as parents and teachers.
Under the leadership of Executive Dean Ana Deletic in the Faculty of Engineering, QUT has increased the number of female engineering academics and profiled role models by bringing in women engineers from industry as guest lecturers in first-year units.
Changes to the engineering program, curriculum and teaching methodology have resulted in an increase in female enrolments across the faculty.
The QUT GEMS (Gender Equity in Engineering Makes Sense) club is a student-led club committed to promoting gender diversity. It offers mentoring to first-year engineering students and collaborates with QUT Power of Engineering to deliver a full-day immersion program aimed at schoolgirls that emphasises the significance of role models.
GEMS was recognised for its inclusive and diverse activities, winning the prestigious Engineers Australia Gender Diversity Award in 2023 for the Most Encouraging Not-for-Profit Group.
A gender disconnect
Whelan, Chair of Engineers Australia Women in Engineering Queensland, says progress towards parity has been painfully slow.
For engineering disciplines in Australia, women make up:
- 17 per cent of graduates
- 18 per cent of enrolled students
- 14 per cent of those entering the profession
However, she remains optimistic that the situation can be improved through partnerships that build inclusive cultures.
The percentage of women in engineering is the lowest of the four STEM subjects with particularly poor numbers in electrical and mechanical fields.
“Socio-culturally, we don’t associate engineering and maths with women,” Whelan said. “My whole life I’ve loved maths and that drove me into engineering, but there seems to be a disconnect between being feminine and enjoying those subjects. And even when young women do express an interest, there are still barriers for them to overcome.
“For example, careers advisors are much more likely to recommend engineering to boys than to girls. So, if we’re going to improve the situation, we can’t just concentrate on persuading young women to study it at university; we need to inspire different mindsets across society that change the association between engineering and masculinity.”
QUT is at the forefront of efforts to close the gender gap, with several initiatives in place. They include supporting 15 young women annually at the start of their engineering journey with a Women in Engineering Scholarship, making education more affordable and accessible. QUT partners with companies to provide additional scholarships, bursaries, internships and mentoring opportunities.
Additionally, QUT offers the Engineering STARTQUT Intensive, a first-year, gender-balanced unit delivered over two weeks during the summer holidays for Year 11 students and facilitated by women engineering academics and student ambassadors.
A passion for engineering
Minuka Mendis, a fifth-year civil engineering and architecture student, is the president of QUT GEMS and serves as a QUT student ambassador, conducting regular workshops at schools to inspire girls to pursue STEM courses at university.
It was something she needed little encouragement to do herself.
“My sister’s five years older than me and is also an engineer so I was lucky to have a female role model because lots of people only see men in those fields,” she said. “I’ve always loved maths so engineering was a natural fit for me.”
And passing on her passion for the subject has been rewarding.
“The reaction from female school students is always fantastic,” she said. “They love hearing about what I do; there’s so much enthusiasm to find out more. One thing that’s surprised me is how few of them know what engineering actually is.
“They’ve had no exposure to it because not all schools offer engineering as a school subject like chemistry or physics. And very few movie heroes, particularly female ones, are engineers. We need to tell more stories about the inspiring women changing the world.”
Whelan agrees.
“The other day the ABC media reported on rocket scientists in South Australia, but the chances are many of those involved are engineers,” she said. “Engineers have been responsible for pretty much every human-made thing you see around you from getting energy to your home, the transport systems you travel on, and the food you eat.
“Young girls and boys need to know that. Particularly as engineers are at the forefront of transitioning technology towards a sustainable future for our planet!”
Despite the seemingly glacial progress towards gender parity in engineering, Mendis remains confident that the situation will improve.
“Things are definitely going in the right direction, but societal change takes time,” she explained. “I’ve had a really good experience at QUT and had opportunities to attend events focused on empowering more women and to talk to others like me about the challenges we’ve overcome.
“So I’m optimistic that if teachers, parents, industry and universities pull together, we can make a difference and produce the female role models for future generations of engineers. Gender equity in engineering does not have to be something that takes a generation to solve. As engineers, we know how to collaborate develop and scale solutions to collectively address an urgent and solvable problem.”
Join the conversation by streaming the free Inclusive Cultures, Inclusive Leadership webinar featuring Karen Whelan, Felicity Furey, Professor Jonathan Roberts and Ruby Heard.
To partner and make change in this space, contact QUT Faculty of Engineering at engage.engineering@qut.edu.au.