This is the conclusion of the latest report from the Royal Academy of Engineering (RAE). Reviewing the first five years of its diversity in engineering programme, the RAE has also set out its vision of a future with wider attraction to the profession and an inclusive culture that welcomes and nurtures engineers from all backgrounds.
The Academy’s Diversity and Inclusion strategy aims to remove barriers to becoming an engineer and addresses the need to create more inclusive cultures that will attract, recruit and retain more female, ethnic minority, disabled, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, older and young people from all socio-economic backgrounds into engineering employment.
The RAE has assisted employers and professional engineering institutions, and partnered with them to influence the landscape of the industry. It has also raised awareness, shared best practice and driven change across the profession by:
- Setting up a diversity leadership group, which has directly engaged with 50 employers and employer-led organisations and published a case study toolkit and benchmarking report to support increasing diversity and inclusion across engineering employment.
- Establishing an engineering diversity concordat, which 32 organisations have signed in support of increasing diversity and inclusion across professional engineering institutions.
- Co-developing the industry-led 10 steps WISE framework, with 49 companies now signed up to sustaining and progressing their female staff.
- Running a three-year higher education employer diversity pilot project with 13 employers and SEO London to broaden diversity of engagement with students.
- Supporting InterEngineering, a network to connect LGBT engineers, encourage dialogue, and promote diversity and inclusion.
