We Need More Female Engineers!

Last year the UCD EGA were concerned  that in 2013 the number of females entering First Engineering had fallen below the average 20% which had become the recent norm.

As a response we decided to commission a Report on Better Gender Balance chaired by my EGA predecessor Michael Loughnane who is also ESB Manager of Organisation Development. Indeed 20% in itself is too low a figure to service our modern growing economy. While the gender balance in UCD First Engineering has recovered somewhat in 2014, nevertheless we decided to complete and publish our Report with Recommendations towards raising gender balance in UCD Engineering.  Assisting Michael with the Report were Ann Fingleton, Dr. Aisling Harkin, Killian McKenna and Louise McGuinness.

Michael Loughnane

A low gender balance in Engineering is not confined to UCD or to Ireland. It is a worldwide phenomenon. Engineers Ireland is also very engaged on this subject currently as it is a major theme of Regina Moran current President and CEO of Fujitsu Ireland. Yesterday Engineers Ireland staged a major interactive event 'Engineering Your Future: Women in Engineering' to inspire young women to consider engineering as a career led by Regina.

Regina Moran

'With Ireland facing a shortage of skilled engineering talent and with a ratio of 9:1 men to women in the industry, women remain an untapped resource in our profession' said Moran who is a chartered engineer.

To help inspire both males and females towards engineering as a profession, it is no coincidence that in today's fast moving high tech world, that the current Presidents of UCD, TCD, NUIG, DCU and DIT are all engineers.
 

Around 118,000 people are working in jobs that use the STEM skills but the proportion of women employed is less than 25% according to the Central Statistics Office. That's further proof of this tremendous national resource loss to the economy.

UCD EGA will be launching our new Report on Better Gender Balance at a Breakfast Briefing in Belfield at 8am on October 30th next. We are pleased to have as speakers the Main Author of the Report Michael Loughnane, Regina Moran President of Engineers Ireland and UCD's Vice President for Research Innovation and Impact Professor Orla Feely.

Orla Feely

All three speakers have a tremendous reservoir of practical knowledge in the whole sphere of gender balance in engineering and will draw a large audience.

All Second Level School Principals and career guidance teachers from the Greater Dublin region will be invited to attend together with EGA members, UCD staff and students. Continential breakfast will be served on the top floor of the Engineering Building from 7.45am and all are welcome. Both Professor David Fitzpatrick Dean of Engineering and myself will attend and take part in the proceedings.