23rd June is an important date for many, it is the date for the EU Referendum, but it also National Women in Engineering Day.
Organised by Womens Engineering Society (WES) to raise the profile of women in engineering and highlight the amazing opportunities that exist for girls and women thinking of carving out a career in engineering.
Brief history of women engineers
Women’s involvement in the engineering industry started to be documented from the 1800’s but their involvement pre-dates this. It wasn’t until 1908 that the first woman was awarded an engineering degree. Alice Perry graduated from Queens College in Galway, Ireland.
Today, women still only make up 9% of the UK engineering workforce. This is the lowest percentage of any European country. The image of engineering is still very much male dominant. WES and other organisations are working hard to change this perception, starting at grassroots level; primary schools.
Skills shortage
The skills shortage in engineering is a huge concern for industry leaders and the UK Government. A shortage of skilled workers has a knock-on effect on the UK economy. A recent report by EngineeringUK showed that the UK needs to be producing an extra 69,000 engineers each year than it already is just to meet current demand. Getting more women into engineering is one of the tactics being drawn up to reduce the skills shortage.
What can engineering offer as a career?
The engineering sector is a growing industry and that means jobs. In times where traditional sectors are shrinking, engineering is on the rise. That is because the term engineering covers such a wide spectrum; Civil Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Geotechnical Engineering, Computer Engineering. In fact, the site www.typesofengineeringdegrees.org lists over 40 types of engineering roles.
If you think that working in the engineering sector will involve wearing a hard hat and high-vis you are wrong. Lots of engineering roles are office based and various roles exist in support roles as well, such as HR, Accounts, Marketing, Research etc.
Traits that an engineer needs:
- Good understanding of math’s
- Good communication skills: listening, verbal and written
- Problem-solving: digest (complex) information and come up with solutions
- Display leadership skills: ability to recognise team members individual strengths and assign tasks accordingly
- Creative thinker: answers to problems can’t always be found in a manual, thinking outside of the box is often needed in engineering
Contract or Perm?
Most engineers choose to work as contractors. Projects evolve over time and require specific skills at specific times, a contract engineer can be brought in at the right time to work on a certain task and when it is completed they move on to another project. How long they work on a project depends on what needs doing, for example, it could be a few weeks or in some instances years.
As contracting offers greater flexibility than permanent employment, you can choose to work on a project then take a break to concentrate on the family before moving onto the next project.
If are worried about being out of work, remember contractors typically earn a third more than their equivalent permanent employees, therefore a period of non-working should be manageable.
Going contract – what is the best option for me?
If you choose to go contract there are different options available to you, these are:
- Working through an umbrella company
- Forming your own limited company
- Be self-employed
- Become an agency employee
If you are thinking of contracting as a short term option then going down the umbrella company or agency employee route is better. However, if you are serious about contracting and are wanting to do it in the most tax efficient manner then forming your own limited company is the better option.
Our articles ‘Forming a limited company: top tips from company directors‘ and ‘Be a winner in the tax game‘ give further details about forming your own limited company.
Ready for the next step?
If you interested in finding out further information on a career in engineering, take a look at these sites:
Women’s Engineering Society – http://www.wes.org.uk/
WISE Campaign – https://www.wisecampaign.org.uk/
Engineering Council – https://www.engc.org.uk/
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