Flicking the switch for more diversity

NEW women engineers are being paid more than their male counterparts but it is still not enough to stem the gender imbalance.

Graduate female engineers are earning salaries of $65,000 in their first year out of university – $1500 more than new male engineers, the Graduate Outcomes Survey reports.

“Name another profession where that is the case,’’ University of NSW engineering dean Professor Mark Hoffman says.

But higher starting salaries are still failing to entice women, who make up just 13 per cent of working engineers in Australia. Hoffman believes more needs to be done at school.

“Engineering just gets dismissed quite quickly (by women),’’ he says.

“Fewer (school) students are picking up high-level maths – and even fewer of those doing the maths are women.

“There’s also very low numbers of people doing physics in high school.

“So a big part (of attracting women into engineering) needs to happen at school – to get girls thinking about, and exposing them to, engineering.’’

Encouraging women to pursue engineering is not just about easing skills shortages. Hoffman says increased diversity has other, equally valid, benefits. “In a knowledge-driven economy, the best innovation comes from diverse teams who bring together different perspectives,’’ he says.

“This isn’t just about plugging the chronic skills gap – it’s also a social good to bring diversity to our techni- cal workforce. We can’t win at the innovation game if half of our potential engineers are not taking part in the race.’’

Pay disparity returns as engineers progress in their career.

Overall, women engineers are paid about $12,000 less than male engineers, the Association of Professional Engineers Australia finds.

Professionals Australia executive officer Kim Rickard says family commitments, that may mean women are only working part time, are largely to blame.

Nivaaz Sehmbhi, 21, never considered engineering as a career until she attended a university Women in Engineering Summer Camp in Year 12.

“That’s when I realised becoming an engineer was more than just being able to problem-solve and do maths,’’ says Sehmbhi, who is now studying a combined Bachelor and Master of Electrical Engineering degree.

“It’s about being able to interact with people, being able to explain things really well and about doing things that will make our world better.’’