The Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) is the latest organization to sign up to the Chief Executive Officer charter, to ensure that more women are attracted to the science, engineering and technology sectors (SET). In the UK, more than 500,000 women are qualified to work in engineering, science and technology, but less than a third work in these sectors.
To address this severe shortage, the UK Resource Centre for women in Science, Engineering and Technology (UKRC) launched a CEO charter for women in SET industries across the UK in 2007, since when over 40 companies have signed up.
IET chief executive Robin McGill is enthusiastic and keen to get involved in the charter. He said, “The IET is committed to raising the profile of engineering and encouraging more young people, including women, to consider a wider participation within the profession. In particular, we hope that the CEO charter will help to address the shortage of female role models within engineering, especially in light of the current skills shortages within the industry.”
The CEO charter is just one of the many projects that the IET is involved with. Each year the association presents the Young Women Engineer of the Year awards, which celebrates the ongoing achievements of female engineers, who are under the age of 30. Katy Deacon, the winner of an Award in 2006, commented, “I hope that through the IET’s commitment to the CEO charter we can build on our previous good works and further raise the profile of engineering to the wider community, particularly encouraging women to enhance all engineering professions with their skills.”
