Women in Engineering

Here at Influx, gender equality is a vital component within our recruitment process.

Unfortunately, there is still a traditional stereotype placed on the engineering and construction industry as a male-dominated trade. This alone is enough to deter women from application. In December 2018, it was announced that roughly only 11% of the engineering industry was female.

However, Influx are not the only ones looking to increase women in the workplace. The United Kingdom has a target of 1m women working in STEM-related industries by 2020. This is being implemented through strategic partnerships such as Diageo’s STEM scholarships, which is also an attempt to close the gender pay gap. In July 2018, Aberdeen hosted the first ever 3-day Women in Engineering conference, which was supported by US oil giant Chevron. Moreover, the government is contributing a £90m investment into education and apprenticeships.

Recruitment agencies rarely recruit for graduate schemes, let alone apprenticeships. Nevertheless, at Influx we are more than willing to offer a consultation for anybody looking for advice. Such examples include building resilience. As sad as it is, women are still subject to ridicule in the workplace. Building on emotional strengths will help you learn how to fight sexism and other minority teasing whilst maintaining your job. Another key piece of advice is to remind yourself where and what you want to be. Keeping your goals in front of your mind will help you continue on that path rather than make you shy away from opportunities.

Influx also understands the difficulties women face within the workplace can make it a struggle to stay within the industry. Many women have left due to feeling under-valued. It has become apparent that tasks are sometimes gendered, in both the workplace and education, with women given communication-based work, leaving the technical jobs to the men. This leaves women facing scrutiny as their tasks are not considered by many as real skills required for engineering and construction.

Due to this, Influx ensures to keep in touch with employees recruited through us, to ensure that you also feel that you remain the right fit within the company you are recruited for.

If you are interested in a career within the Engineering and Construction industry, or would like advice on how to start progressing towards one, feel free to contact us by phone on 0131 331 1500 / 01224 050 600 or email us at hello@influxrecruitment.com.