Industry needs skilled women
UK manufacturing is losing out because it is failing to recruit enough women engineers and scientists, a report warns today.
There is no getting away from the fact that women are substantially under-represented in manufacturing...
The engineering employers’ organisation EEF says just 6 per cent of engineers in this country are female against 18 per cent in Spain, 20 per cent in Italy and 26 per cent in Sweden.
According to its report, at the 29 manufacturing companies in the FTSE 100 women accounted for 19 per cent of directors against the Footsie average of 17 per cent.
GlaxoSmithKline topped the ranking with five women making up 33 per cent of board places.
EEF chief Terry Scuoler said: “There is no getting away from the fact that women are substantially under-represented in manufacturing at a time when industry needs to be tapping into every potential talent pool.”
It wants a national campaign to encourage women to study science, technology, engineering and mathematics – dubbed STEM subjects – in schools and to professional level.