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GETTING GIRLS INTO ENGINEERING: a PRACTICAL GUIDE Contents GETTING GIRLS INTO ENGINEERING: A PRACTICAL GUIDE www.thelep.org.uk Contents Introduction • The problem • The LEP • The UKRC Approach • Workshops and training • In practice – environment and materials • The role of the ambassadors LEP/UKRC Guidelines • Introduction to the guidelines • Gender Inclusion & Cultural Diversity Guidelines Introduction The Problem Although on average girls outperform boys in all subject areas at key stages of assessment, proportionally fewer girls than boys progress to do SET (science, engineering and technology) subjects at A level and in higher education. Currently, girls make up under half (42.4%) of A level students in STEM (science technology, engineering and mathematics) subjects, women make up approximately a third (33.5%) of all higher education students in SET disciplines and only 14% of engineering undergraduates. Of those women who acquire any SET discipline at degree level, only 27% pursue a SET career compared to 54% of male SET graduates. The UK and the wider world are facing a shortage of engineers and scientists; the very people needed to preserve and improve our planet and our well-being. According to the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), the number of UK students graduating in SET subjects needs to increase by 97,000 by 2014 in order to keep up with demand. However, even though the number of young people opting to take degrees has increased by an encouraging 60%, the number of UK engineering students has not changed in the last ten years. To increase the number of home-grown engineers and scientists we need to look for potential students among populations not historically known for providing them; groups such as women and non-white UK populations. By drawing on a diverse talent pool, the UK engineering industry could build a workforce with a diverse knowledge and understanding of global markets and position itself as a strong and successful player in the increasingly global marketplace. The LEP The London Engineering Project is a project led by the Royal Academy of Engineering to encourage girls, students with no family history of higher education, adult learners and black and ethnic minority (BME) students into higher education after school, and in particular to consider engineering as a career. It is a partnership of national science outreach organisations, higher education institutions (HEIs) and industrial sponsors that aims to increase cultural and gender diversity in engineering education, starting at the beginning of the education ladder and continuing to the top. The Project has been supported by Government and industry and has worked in 40 primary schools and secondary schools in south and east London, in 3 HEIs and also with Thames Water, EDF Energy, Transport for London and Tube Lines. A team of dynamic and ethnically diverse female and male fieldworkers deliver a complex set of activities in schools, including STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) project days and after-school science clubs, residential courses for secondary students, engineering summer schools and science and engineering competitions. All the activities have by necessity had to be gender inclusive, and to ensure this was the case the UK Resource Centre for Women in SET was co-opted onto the Project. More information is available at: www.thelep.org.uk The UKRC The UK Resource Centre for Women in SET (UKRC) works to significantly improve the participation and position of women in science, engineering and technology occupations in industry, research, academia, education and public service. It is the UK’s leading provider of information and advice to employers and organisations in the SET sectors, supporting women entering, returning and progressing in these fields to benefit the future productivity of the UK and the lifetime earnings and career aspirations of women employees. The UKRC works with a wide range of organisations to deliver services and develop new initiatives enabling cultural and organisational change. As a partner in the London Engineering Project, the UKRC provided a focus on the development of effective practices to successfully engage girls from under-represented groups in engineering. The approach addressed both gender inclusion and engaging other under-represented groups to ensure that diversity remained at the core. It involved a UKRC field worker within the LEP project team who worked closely with all project partners to build commitment and confidence in identifying how effective gender equality practice could be included in their work and to support them in the implementation of this practice. Pivotal to the development of the LEP’s work practices was the UKRC Gender Inclusion Training at the beginning of the project. This training raised awareness and understanding of the issues surrounding girls and engineering among the LEP team and thus laid the foundations of the project from the very start. More information is available at: www.ukrc4setwomen.org The Aim The aim of this guide is to share the effective practice the UKRC has developed in the area of gender inclusion with the LEP. Throughout the project, the LEP focused on working with students form BME backgrounds, students who did not have a family history of participation in higher education and girls, with a specific focus on Pakistani/Bangladeshi girls as the most under- represented in UK engineering. Focusing on girls can cause concerns, particularly as to whether this approach puts boys off. The UKRC has found that in practice it does not. What has become apparent is that while good practice provides improvements for all students, poor practice disproportionately affects those students who are already the most disenfranchised. For example, a school assembly presentation to promote a design- and-make solar car challenge delivered by a young woman who shares her enthusiasm for motor sports will result in both girls and boys queuing to take part. An uninspiring talk providing the same information will still result in boys signing up, but not necessarily girls. Much of what follows is straightforward and could even be considered obvious or simplistic, but addressing details such as whether the number of boys in a visual (e.g. PowerPoint) presentation is the same as the number of girls does matter, and paying attention to these details works in helping to engage girls. To illustrate this, it is worth mentioning that most LEP activities have a minimum of 50% participation by girls. BME students account for approximately 80% of participants, reflecting the intake of the schools involved. While the focus of the UKRC has been to ensure participation of girls in LEP activities and thereby encourage more girls to consider a career in engineering, the principles developed and utilised could equally be applied to any under-represented group in any sector. For example, having young men staff a childcare stall at a careers day is equally encouraging to male students as is seeing an engineering stall staffed by young women to female students. It is important to point out that all the partners in the LEP took part in the UKRC Gender Inclusion Training which promotes a thorough understanding of the issues surrounding girls and women in STEM and the effective actions which can be taken to address these issues. Tailored training was also given to those who worked with the Project including the student ambassadors, HEI marketing departments and the teachers who facilitated after-school clubs. These guidelines include the Gender Inclusion and Cultural Diversity Guidelines developed by the LEP team for their everyday use and other publicity materials as examples of designs conceived before and after the UKRC Gender Inclusion Training, including a leaflet for parents and a flyer for an event called Engineering Islam which was particularly useful in engaging Pakistani and Bangladeshi girls. We hope you find this useful. The Approach Workshops and training The UKRC has provided tailored gender equality training to all those involved in the project: the student ambassadors, the marketing departments allied to the partner organisations, HEI engineering departments, the LEP fieldworkers and the teachers running the after-school science and engineering clubs. Training other senior staff within LEP partner organisations was also important to ensure high level support and understanding of the gender issues which would be important to the success of the project. The aim of training was to: l Raise awareness of factors influencing access to education, training and careers in STEM for girls and women l Identify ways of inspiring girls and women in STEM areas l Identify support mechanisms required to ensure success for girls and women in STEM l Share good practice in STEM education l Identify gender inclusion tools to be developed for use by LEP partners UKRC training sessions are interactive and tailored to the needs of the participants. For example, marketing departments received training about the promotion of activities to girls, while teachers’ sessions focused on effective teaching practices. A sample handout from these training sessions is included. Before the day begins, the trainers have already done their homework about the organisation that they are engaging with. They begin the session by ascertaining the participants’ goals and identifying their perceived barriers to the participation of women in engineering. Throughout the session, the UKRC trainers give examples of tried and tested methods of targeting girls without
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