Five minutes with: Helen Tucker, HR Global Diversity & Inclusion Director at Procter & Gamble

Helen Tucker, HR Global Diversity & Inclusion Director at Procter & Gamble (P&G), on how to empower women to work in male-dominated sectors 

At P&G, we strongly believe that Diversity and Inclusion is a competitive advantage – we want to be as diverse as the people who buy our products. That’s why we intentionally seek to help women enter and progress in roles, many of which in the past have been traditionally male-dominated. We are working to change out-dated perceptions that Engineering is a gender specific job. We take every measure to create an inclusive workplace and create a strong support network for women who are working in these roles.

Recently, we celebrated Women in Engineering day, heroing our female site leaders, Engineering Graduates and Apprentices. Our plant in Seaton held a Women’s Network event in association with the Women in Engineering Society and we filmed messages across our sites wishing everyone a great #NWED2016.

Currently, women make up just 9% of the Engineering workforce in the UK. Despite increasing opportunities for women who aspire to work in Engineering, there remains to be a distinct lack of applicants. One of the key challenges to getting women interested in Engineering is changing the perceptions of younger women about who should work in the Engineering industry. This will help encourage more females at school to study STEM subjects, and build a solid grounding in the field.