What should an engineer look like?

By guest blogger: Nike Folayan
Associate at WSP/Parsons Brinkerhoff, Trustee at EDT and Chair at AFBE-UK


I was very interested to see the recent interest sparked by the social media campaign #ilooklikeanengineer, helping to shine the spotlight on a significant issue that has cast its shadow over engineering for some time now. Despite continued efforts to address many misconceptions people have about engineering, the majority of the UK public if asked would assume that all engineers wear blue overalls and get dirty hands.

In the UK women make up 50% of the population with only 8% actually employed within the engineering industry. In addition 20% of university graduates are from ethnic minority backgrounds however only 6% currently work in the engineering industry. These statistical facts should not be ignored in the debate if indeed we are trying to promote engineering to the general population.  The catchy slogan, has resulted in a domino effect of engineers joining to shake up people’s understanding of engineering and what an engineer should look like, not only to challenge misconceptions, but also to encourage people to consider engineering as a viable career path.

There is a real skills shortage in engineering with an ageing population of skilled engineers retiring year after year and no one with adequate experience to fill up the positions these engineers leave behind. I think as an industry we must move away from the traditional view of what an engineer is or looks like as there is vast array of untapped talent within non-traditional engineering groups - such as women, different social classes and ethnic minorities amongst many other strands of diversity.

The information available to people from these non-traditional groups is limited and for a long time engineering has been perceived of as a close knit community. Furthermore there are great female engineers and engineers from diverse backgrounds who are not as well-known as some of the other great male role models which further fosters the typecast of what an engineer looks like. Certainly the quality of people’s work is what should make them great engineers and not just what they do to promote engineering.

My view is that there is currently a push in the industry on diversity but this can be a little tunnel visioned.  Promoting engineering to all - means that diversity needs to include gender, ethnicity, disability and social class. I think there should be as much effort on these facets of diversity as there is focused towards women. Using real life engineers who are not only doing great things but those who have come from similar backgrounds, probably gone to the same types of schools, have similar life experiences is important if we are to increase the number of engineers. Young people will benefit by identifying with role models similar to them in order to feel that these careers are attainable.

In my opinion a career in engineering is there for the taking for anyone who wants to make a career out of it irrespective of your background. The industry is largely open and welcoming. Speaking as a person who is very passionate about engineering, I believe there is an engineering discipline that suits anyone interested in Maths and Science. The industry needs to get on board with campaigns such as #ilooklikeanengineer and outreach activities like the ones EDT provides, in order to inspire tomorrow’s engineers. The more engineers who get involved the better the representation will be of who engineers really are and what they look like, not just addressing misconceptions but completely changing perceptions once and for all.