Inspiring Girls to Explore STEM

In the UK, women are significantly underrepresented in engineering and technology sectors, comprising just 16.5% of the engineering workforce, compared to 47.7% of the overall workforce. This statistic highlights a critical gap in gender diversity within these fields, highlighting the importance of targeted outreach programs to encourage girls and young women to pursue careers in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics).

In 2023, Crux started an outreach program sparked from conversations about experiences studying engineering as a gender minority in a male-dominated field.

Seeing Engineering in Action

I attended an engineering challenge day while at school, and if not for such experiences, I doubt I would have studied engineering at university. I was always coming up with ideas and inventing things in school, and the challenge day showed me that pursuing engineering as a career would allow me to do that for a job.

Societal influence over your career path begins in early childhood when boys receive greater encouragement to play with toys that increase the development of spatial understanding and problem-solving.

The Gender Gap in STEM Education

A-level physics is required to study engineering at university; however, only 23% of A-level physics students are female.

Lack of confidence in technical skills results in young female engineers missing development and learning opportunities. At university, developing technical skills like finite element analysis and coding depends on putting yourself forward for the parts of group projects seen as ‘most difficult’, so a lack of confidence results in leaving university with a less technical skill set.

Young girls with skills in math’s and science receive less encouragement, have fewer role models and face being ‘othered’. A crucial part of engineering is understanding user needs, and a diverse workforce with a variety of lived experiences better represents the people we are designing for.

Crux Outreach Programme Aims to Encourage Girls to Engineering

To create a more diverse field in the future, young girls need to receive more encouragement to study STEM subjects.

The idea of the outreach program is to encourage year 10 girls interested in math’s and science to consider engineering as a career. This is our second year running the program in collaboration with Ashton Park School.

The scheme involves the girls completing a project to practice technical skills and gain an understanding of the engineering process – from idea conception to testing and verification.

We also wanted to introduce them to what engineers do daily and demonstrate the job’s relevance and how it impacts everyone’s lives. The girls will be set a challenge to take a consumer product and improve it to produce a more sustainable version.

Presentation day at the Crux office

The groups will have two weeks to work on their pitch before coming into the Crux office on 8 March (International Women’s Day) to present us with their work. During their day in our office, the students can practice their presentation skills and complete a mini-design challenge using our rapid prototype and crush test equipment.

Creating a safe space for girls to explore engineering as a career path will give them the confidence to take future opportunities to develop their skills.

Alex Norgett
Mechanical Engineer