SNP MSP encourages more women to study engineering

Thursday, 22 June 2017 15:59

New figures reveal over a 70% increase in the number of women undertaking engineering undergraduate degrees since the SNP came to office.

The figures obtained by the Scottish Parliament’s Information Centre (SPICe) show positive yet modest progress and significant disparity between the number of women going into engineering compared to men.

Tomorrow (Friday 22^nd) marks International Women in Engineering Day, which aims to raise the profile of women in engineering and focus on the career opportunities available in this thriving industry.

Commenting, Mairi Evans MSP for Angus North and Mearns said:

“In my own constituency of Angus North and Mearns there are an abundance of oil and gas engineering firms that provide great opportunities for men and women interested in engineering.

“While it is really encouraging to see more women studying engineering in Scotland under the SNP, we still have a long way to go to catch up with other European nations in terms of women studying, graduating and going on to jobs in engineering.

“I’d like to highlight International Women in Engineering Day, which takes place this Friday, to focus people’s attention on encouraging more women to consider a career in engineering and acknowledge the successes of those women who are already breaking glass ceilings in this industry. There is no reason why engineering should remain a male-dominated industry, and I hope more women and girls are inspired into this industry, bringing skills and benefits to our economy.”

ENDS

Scottish-domiciled first degree entrants in Engineering by gender (AY 2003-04 – 2015-16)
	a_year
	2006-07		2007-08		2008-09		2009-10		2010-11		2011-12		2012-13		2013-14		2014-15		2015-16
Gender
Female	261	11.3%	277	12.0%	286	11.3%	337	12.2%	283	11.2%	320	12.4%	359	13.1%	401	13.8%	442	14.7%	448	14.3%
Male	2055	88.7%	2026	88.0%	2254	88.7%	2433	87.8%	2254	88.8%	2259	87.6%	2387	86.9%	2512	86.2%	2568	85.3%	2674	85.6%
Other	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	*	*	*	*
Total	2316		2303		2540		2770		2537		2579		2746		2913		3011		3124

Scottish-domiciled graduates in Engineering by gender (AY 2003-04 – 2015-16)
	a_year
	2006-07		2007-08		2008-09		2009-10		2010-11		2011-12		2012-13		2013-14		2014-15		2015-16
Gender
Female	225	12.0%	198	11.3%	189	11.7%	176	11.2%	213	12.2%	216	11.2%	240	11.5%	282	12.6%	301	12.9%	333	13.6%
Male	1657	88.0%	1558	88.7%	1430	88.3%	1395	88.8%	1536	87.8%	1709	88.8%	1852	88.5%	1962	87.4%	2027	87.0%	2121	86.4%
Other	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	*	*	0.0%	*	*	0	0.0%
Total	1882		1756		1619		1571		1749		1925		2092		2245		2330		2454

The range of engineering programmes that have been included in the analysis (standard HESA definition of engineering programmes) covers:

Engineering
(H0) Broadly-based programmes within engineering & technology
(H1) General engineering
(H2) Civil engineering
(H3) Mechanical engineering
(H4) Aerospace engineering
(H5) Naval architecture
(H6) Electronic & electrical engineering
(H7) Production & manufacturing engineering
(H8) Chemical, process & energy engineering
(H9) Others in engineering

https://www.hesa.ac.uk/support/documentation/jacs/jacs3-principal