Engineering stronger teams
How can companies and organisations improve inclusivity and accessibility for employees?
Following the end of World War I, many of the women who had kept the UK running were asked to leave their jobs in industry so that returning servicemen could resume their positions. Out of this landscape, the Women’s Engineering Society (WES) formed in 1919, aimed at keeping women in technical sectors.
However, according to a 2026 EngineeringUK report on the Engineering and Technology Workforce, women still comprise only 17% of the UK’s engineering and technology sector, despite efforts to increase this number.
The current WES President, Dr Katherine Critchley, shared how International Women in Engineering Day, started by WES in 2014, 'aims to celebrate women in engineering and promote the profession for other females to join'. It began in the UK, but now has global reach, with organisations from all over the world getting involved and celebrating their own female employees. This year, WES focused on the theme of ‘engineering intelligence’.
What is ‘engineering intelligence’?
Transport for London (TfL)’s Director of Engineering and Asset Strategy, Isabel Coman, shared her belief that ‘engineering intelligence’ means combining technical expertise, creativity and systems-level thinking. This involves examining how we work with others and understanding how different disciplines interrelate.
She also highlighted that engineers must 'be able to present challenges and solutions in a compelling and simple way' to decision-makers. Critchley added, 'It’s about good engineering decisions…then communicating those decisions out to the wider community.'
Katy Deacon, Vice President of the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET), reflected on the importance of diverse engineering intelligence, but increased diversity requires people to make extra efforts to listen to others.
Deacon finds, 'As somebody who is in a wheelchair, people don’t talk to me – they talk to the person standing next to me, because they are considered more able to answer…as soon as people become disabled, they are not necessarily part of the conversation anymore.' She said this is an experience that rings true with others in her network too.
Coman challenged how engineers are expected to be able to do every aspect of the job, stressing that 'the full ticket' doesn’t actually exist. 'You have to be aware of what you bring, your capability and skillset, and how that trades off with other people filling the gaps.'
Going the extra mile
Coman also described how she collaborated with other senior-level women to double the percentage of female Fellows in the Institution of Civil Engineers from 6 to 12% in the last four years. 'The action wasn’t directly [about] making women Fellows, but bringing those who didn’t recognise how talented [they are] forward…by giving them the route to get there [and] sponsors to support their applications.
'There is still a perception…not only for women, but people who don’t feel represented or can’t see themselves, that they therefore aren’t very good, or can’t have amazing careers and move forward in the industry. A real focus should be how to help people through that lack of confidence.'
Head of bp Solutions Bruce Price noted the importance of being an ally 'as a male leader in an engineering business'.
'You have to make it a very deliberate thing…it’s not enough to just have good intent and hope. [It’s about] making sure you create space for that important conversation,' continued Price.
He is proud that bp currently has a female CEO, Deputy CEO and CFO, and can see that it makes a difference in the company, 'because they’re impressive leaders'. However, he said, 'the executive level can feel a long way away', drawing attention to the need for female representation at all levels.
Critchley shared, 'When we had our centenary in 2019, we were talking about 30 by 30', meaning a 30% female workforce by 2030. 'We’re getting really close to 2030', but the figure still stands at 17%.
She asserted, 'We’ve got to get a broader notion of what an engineer looks like and what engineering is.'
As Price pointed out, “behind everything you love is an engineer…but people don’t necessarily see that”. He notes TikTok as a useful platform for getting young people’s attention, as well as helping teachers better explain what engineering is. Deacon volunteers with school advocacy charity Primary Engineer, and echoed this sentiment.
It’s also crucial to look at female engineers across the whole chain. In 2024, EngineeringUK found mid-career fall-off is concentrated among women aged 35 to 44. This is consistent with Engineering Council registration data showing 43 is the average age of women leaving the profession, in contrast with 60 for men.
'[We] can’t just push all these young girls into engineering, and then when they get there they can’t see senior leaders or a career path for themselves, otherwise we’re just setting people up to fail. We’re looking at how to support later-career women – even into retirement,' asserted Critchley.
Besides having families, she reflected, 'there are a lot more complicated characteristics…engineers are bright, intelligent people, so often get poached by other industries that pay more.
'If we don’t look at ways to bring women back into engineering…we’re never going to reach that 30%, because we’ve got a limited number coming in' among the younger generation.
The WES is therefore focused on returner programmes, such as STEM Returners, and providing its partners with toolkits to support women within their industries.
Making places that work for everyone
'Inclusive engineering is better engineering, because it improves safety and we get better engineering decisions when people feel confident to speak, challenge and disrupt the status quo,' Price shared. 'It brings improved performance, because inclusive teams learn from each other faster and can solve more complex problems. Inclusion is not separate from engineering excellence or technical excellence – it’s the same thing.'
Deacon described her experience as someone who 'became severely disabled at 32' and how people in similar positions 'bring brilliant perspectives' that can contribute to their work.
'That’s really important from an intelligent engineering point of view. It’s about using the wonderful skills and knowledge of everybody that’s part of our community to build better for everyone.'
Deacon describes how when she first became disabled, 'I fortunately had a brilliant boss who moved heaven and Earth to make sure I could still work and achieve…but as my disability progressed, I couldn’t use a computer, for example'. At that point, a different boss instead offered her ill-health retirement. 'That had me absolutely on the floor…we need to make sure we’re enabling everybody to keep working.'
In fact, she had to join the event remotely 'because there are only a small number of hotels that have the facility to enable me to attend events like this, and unfortunately they were booked up'. This opened up her discussion on the 'accessible housing crisis'.
She explained how 1.2 million citizens in the UK with significant mobility issues 'can’t get in and out of their homes because…less than 2% of newly built homes are built to wheelchair user standards'. She also emphasised that people need to be thinking 'longer and wider' to build accessible and adaptable homes. This would put less pressure on social services and local government at later stages.
The Royal Academy of Engineering has supported Deacon in developing a product called 'BelongifAI', which can scan an architectural design to identify accessibility issues and offer support in meeting standards. It links in with providers and suppliers and has built-in virtual reality tools that help developers better understand how designs will work. The team is currently setting up a technical advisory panel to help the tool meet industry needs.
On representation, Deacon said, 'We need to get [more images and films] of engineers doing awesome things out there. I’m in a wheelchair all the time, and I think it’s important to get videos and photos of me so other wheelchair users can see, ‘She’s doing it, so maybe I could [too].’ Having those role models is incredibly important'.
Building on this, Price said he is happy to see that equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) is no longer a side conversation, but increasingly recognised as a way to 'build stronger teams, make better decisions and deliver better outcomes'. It is now more about driving 'safety, performance and capability, and less about just representation'.
This tonal shift is particularly important for engineering, which involves high-risk environments and where safety is so important.
However, he highlighted, 'It’s not enough to just declare a commitment, there has to be consistency in how it feels for everybody who’s living it day in day out. [The biggest focus should be on] creating true psychological safety, where anybody can contribute, regardless of background, gender, or ethnicity, and we get to a place where people can speak up and challenge.'
Everyone on the panel agreed that with better EDI values come stronger workforces and engineering outcomes. Perhaps the real engineering intelligence is in knowing how to construct teams that welcome differences in opinion, bring diverse ideas to the table and recognise the value that each individual holds.
Lived experiences of disabled engineers and technologists inform workplace recommendations
Barriers and enablers to inclusion and career progression are highlighted in a new report from the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET).
The Disability in Engineering and Technology Report follows on from a study into the experiences of neurodivergent engineers and technologists, published in 2023, but this time focuses solely on physical disabilities and long-term conditions.
Among the key findings are:
- Underrepresentation – disabled people make up 24% of the working-age population in the UK, but only 14% of engineers and 6% of technologists.
- Employment gap – the employment rate for disabled people is 53%, compared to 82% for non-disabled people. Closing this gap could boost the UK economy by £17bln annually.
- Accountability – workplace inclusion issues often arise from a lack of clear accountability and consistent implementation, rather than a lack of information.
- Human rights – disabled people’s human rights often fall below profits in terms of priorities for engineering and technology organisations.
- Impact – disabled engineers and technologists face a ‘disability tax’ in the extra emotional and time burden required to navigate inaccessible workplace and societal systems.
The document sets out actions for change, which are recommendations to employers, HR staff, line managers, disabled people and for the IET itself.
Katy Deacon, who is Vice President of the IET, and became a wheelchair user at 32, says, 'People spend exhausting hours repeatedly advocating for themselves and trying to get adjustments to make sure their world is as accessible and inclusive as possible [and] the barriers start long before someone even reaches the office.' These include inaccessibility in housing and commuting, as well as getting hired in the first place.
Supportive and empathetic managers, psychological safety to disclose a disability, adaptable working environments and accessible systems are all identified as enablers to disability inclusion. Barriers include complex, inconsistent adjustment processes and ableist bias and stereotypes.
Something else the report found was that disabled employees are often not being asked about their experiences, despite having valuable perspectives on how they are impacted by their environments. Deacon also highlighted that, on top of its recommendations, the IET is promoting role models and creating toolkits for employers, HR staff and individuals having issues at work to support the industry.
Read the full report at iom3.info/iet_disabilityreport
