- Engineering is a male-dominated industry
Accu’s research shows that over 1 in 5 (21%) STEM employees in the UK are women, with 1 in 10 (9.4%) employed in engineering specifically.
However, participation is actively diversifying. Women now make up over 40% of STEM graduates in the country, higher than in countries renowned for workplace equality, such as Sweden (37.8%) and Norway (29.7%).
Patrick Faulkner comments:
“It is hopeful to see that over 2 in 5 STEM graduates are women – a stat that is a world away from when many senior engineers started their careers.
“Engineering teams benefit greatly from women’s strengths in complex problem-solving and excellent communication skills, and organisations that fail to attract and retain women are effectively narrowing their own technical capability at a time when demand for STEM skills is growing.”
|
Country |
Women as % of labour force |
Women among STEM graduates (%) |
Tertiary-educated women employed in STEM (%) |
||
|
ICT |
Science & Technology |
Engineering |
|||
|
United Kingdom |
17.1 |
39.4 |
9.4 |
40.5 |
28.7 |
Please find the full dataset from this study here.
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There are too few job opportunities in the sector
28% of young Brits said they were simply not aware of job opportunities in the engineering sector.
However, 1 in 5 working Brits (6.4 million) are currently employed in engineering and technology, making it one of the largest sectors in the UK. There are also currently 40,047 open engineering vacancies (July 2026).
Here is a breakdown of vacancies for 5 engineering types (July 2026):
Civil Engineering 536
Mechanical Engineering 408
Chemical Engineering 31
Electrical Engineering 12,315
Automation Engineering 1,136
Data retrieved from LinkedIn.
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There is no creativity in day-to-day work
Only 3% of the public associate the word “creative” with engineering, whilst just 4% associate the sector with the word “invent”.
Patrick Faulkner discusses:
“It’s no wonder that young people might be losing interest in engineering careers if the public perception of the industry is that it’s dull and unenlightening. Images come to mind of people in cubicles drawing the same part over and over again, or a technician assembling the same parts for weeks on end.
“Many engineering careers include creating designs and finding creative solutions to problems. Civil engineers, for example, design and oversee the construction of all sorts of, often fascinating, infrastructure projects. Machinists are constantly solving workholding problems, and Design engineers work in the scope of a clients constraints, to create the best outcome for all parties.
“Interestingly, civil engineers go hand in hand with architects, which is a job role that many would consider highly creative. Engineering has a perception of reuqiring a highly technical and mathematical background – but the creativity in the day-to-day remains.”
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Engineering firms don’t offer flexible working
83% of engineering firms offer flexible working, higher than the national average for core UK industries (76%). Accu also operates on a 4-day working week – a growing trend among engineering firms, with the 4 Day Week Foundation having registered over 200 British engineering companies with them last year.
Engineering experience also opens candidates up to relocation and international work, with thousands of British engineers relocating to Australia each year. Australia, in particular, is facing a severe engineering labour shortage, described as the worst in over a decade; therefore, pathways to full-time engineering employment there are common.
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You need to go to university to become an engineer
A third of Brits no longer believe a degree is worth the time or money, which, for some young people, could be a major barrier to entry for a career in engineering.
Patrick Faulkner explains:
“A career in engineering doesn’t always require a degree – far from it, in fact. Many technical roles can be taught through apprenticeships and internships. Taking Accu’s 3 most senior engineers as an example, we have all reached this stage in our careers without holding a single engineering degree between us!
“There are currently 2,361 engineering vacancies that don’t require a university degree. Once you secure a position as a technician, many firms offer further training and qualifications, which can lead to successful and exciting careers in software engineering and design engineering, for example.”
