Parents can help girls build engineering careers
Parents can play a key role into getting more girls into engineering roles – by creating a supportive environment at home as the children grow up.
Only 16.9 per cent of the UK workforce of engineers is made up of women, compared to 56 per cent in other professions.
But while schools, colleges and businesses are working to improve this ratio, a leading female engineer has warned not to underestimate influence of early life at home on naturally opening doors for STEM careers for girls.
Lina Huertas, Industry Executive for Manufacturing with Microsoft
Lina Huertas said: “It’s just hard to imagine yourself as something that you don’t know. So if you don’t know something, you’re probably very unlikely to become it. But if you’ve had the chance, if you’ve had the exposure to it, then it suddenly becomes a possibility. “When I was growing up, my dad was really interested in cars. We were two girls and one boy. We were all treated the same and we were all given the chance to go and have a look at the engine or, when I was learning to drive, dad would have taught me how to do a quick fix in the engine at the back. “They also have a small manufacturing business and, because they both worked during holidays, they’d bringing us to the business and so we’d have plenty of chances to see machines, materials, kind of production lines and design. And I think just having the chance to do it really got me involved.”
She added that school projects can also help significantly as they make related topics that girls may shy away from more attractive and entertaining.
Lina is an advocate on pushing for more ways to get females interested in engineering and has been working with recruitment specialist Pertemps on a series of podcasts to showcase female career paths into prominent engineering positions. And she firmly believes that what they are exposed to at home in their childhood really can impact the career they pursue. She added: “It’s important that boys and girls are given the exposure, for example, through toys and experiences.
“Parents are the first and probably most lasting influence in people’s lives. I think, from parents to teachers and mentors, we all have that duty. Sometimes we don’t realise that we’re having that role, but it can make a huge difference.”
Pertemps have also published a book for primary school girls talking about the opportunities in engineering. You can find it here.