“Outdated preconceptions” must be beaten to increase female diversity in engineering

The engineering industry needs to do more discourage gender stereotypes if it wishes to diversify.

The high performance of female students compared to their males peers, in science, tech, engineering, and maths (STEM), has not translated into more female a-level students in these subjects.

AECOM, says this indicates that, when female students choose their post-GCSE career path, gender stereotypes are at the forefront of their mind.

A third of the graduates now taken on by AECOM are female. 22% of their employees in highly technical roles are female, compared to eight per cent of UK engineering professionals.