Written by Eleanor Bean – Systems Engineer, AtkinsRéalis
Engineering has always been an industry that is synonymous with a male workforce, but engineering in defence has an even bigger challenge in ensuring a diverse and inclusive workforce.
The defence sector plays an important role in national security, it has a responsibility to protect and deter against potential conflicts offering national and international crisis response, and relief. There’s no shying away from the fact that it faces a range of public opinions, and the negative outside perception can deter talent from pursuing a career within defence.
What can be done to encourage more women to join the defence sector?
In 2023 female representation sat at 24% across the industry[1], meaning, there’s still a lot to be done to make engineering within defence a representative environment. To tackle the issue head on, AtkinsRéalis became a signatory of the Women in Defence Charter. It was launched by the Ministry of Defence to improve gender balance within the defence workforce across both the public and private sectors. They’ve set a goal to reach 30% female representation within the industry at all levels by 2030.
True inclusion and diversity will see organisations actively introduce processes and structures that provide opportunities for women to succeed at all levels. A more balanced and representative workforce in the defence and engineering industry results in more innovative, creative and fulfilled teams, and a more robust workforce that can recruit from a varied pool of people.
How AtkinsRéalis supported me
A career in defence as an engineer might be a route not many have considered. It wasn’t something I had personally thought about in my initial job application journey, but the range of opportunities that are available to develop your technical skills within the defence industry is unique.
A challenge I faced, when I joined AtkinsRéalis as a graduate three years ago, was my route to Chartership. It can still be very difficult to achieve Chartered Engineer status without a Masters degree and studying for a Postgraduate degree is not accessible for everyone whether for financial, health or personal reasons. I only had an Undergraduate Engineering degree, so I approached my management team with these concerns. They immediately encouraged me to do a part-time MSc course funded entirely by my organisation, and developed a formal policy to allow others to do the same after me.
AtkinsRéalis offer lots of different career paths suited to individual skills and passions, whether in a technical, commercial or people management role. The industry is changing for the better, but there is still a noticeable lack of diverse representation at the senior level. Visible role models in senior positions would help to inspire and motivate the next generation of girls and women to progress in engineering and defence.
Reinforcing a strong pipeline of talented female engineers in defence is the key to ensuring we can respond to the complex, changing threats the UK faces. The benefits that arise from an inclusive and diverse defence sector reach us all, and organisations have a corporate social responsibility to empower and encourage women to pursue long lasting careers in the industry.
Find out more
AtkinsRéalis is a trusted strategic partner, and enables organisations across the defence, aerospace and security sectors to achieve their missions and delivery successful programmes.
WISE has recently published a case study on all the great work that AtkinsRéalis has done as part of their Different Makes a Difference programme.
Read the AtkinsRéalis case study to learn more about the impact they’ve made and how they’ve done it.
[1] UK Women in Defence Charter 2023 Insights and Data