Women in Engineering: Shaping New Zealand’s Future

Looking into the future you should see a diverse workforce, with equal representation of males and females across the energy sector. Diversity can provide your organisation with a range of unique perspectives; skill sets and capabilities to succeed in the long term.

Young women can now picture themselves in an industry that is traditionally male-dominated and learn how they can make a difference in shaping the future of New Zealand.

We can work together to encourage females to pursue a career within the energy and engineering sectors. But organisations must recognise the barriers in place to being able to succeed in the profession as a female. With many females within the industry wanting to “make a difference”, we need to change the way we market the engineering and energy sectors to suit their motives and ambitions.

To get to this point, it is vital that organisations acknowledge the changes taking place with more females entering the industry. From our engagement and discussions with the market, the engineering sector is one which has opportunities to help fill the skills shortage and gender pay gap in New Zealand, by understanding the ongoing trends within the sector and how to attract and retain females in their organisations.

Emerging Trends

We have all caught on to and followed trends in society. So, let’s jump on to the female in engineering trend too!

Women entering the energy sector remain underrepresented at all levels. We know that young women lose their interest and confidence in STEM in primary school and so, most female students only decide to pursue a career in engineering if they have previously been exposed to it through family, friends, and teachers at a young age.

We are seeing more nationwide efforts and programmes available to young women, providing them with an introduction and insight into the industry, and what they can achieve within the engineering industry. With an increased emphasis on the importance of having female role models and mentors to look up to and learn from, it is key that organisations ensure they represent females across the energy sector.

Northpower is one of the companies that has been involved in hosting the successful ‘girls in infrastructure’ event in Whangarei for several years, where girls from high schools throughout the Northland region are able to see a wide range of career choices in the infrastructure industry and talk to women in the industry about their experiences. The event aims to empower young women to pursue a career in the infrastructure industry and increase awareness of the range of careers available, whilst breaking down barriers to entering the industry.

Opportunities for Employers

The hiring process is one of the first real impressions a prospective employee gains and can heavily influence their decision-making moving forward. We can begin to increase our level of awareness of unconscious bias to ensure that these don’t influence recruitment decisions.

Organisations and managers must ensure that their hiring process is fair and equitable. The process should always be conducted in an ethical manner, without discrimination or bias at any level. Relevant employment laws outline the requirements of carrying out a fair process for every individual, to maintain transparent, long-lasting relationships in the workplace. This enhances the level of communication and collaboration between managers and employees.

This could look like:

• Having equal gender representation across the interviewing panel.
• Flexible working hours, a diverse and inclusive team culture, and opportunities to advance their career are appealing to women entering the industry.
• Providing internships and graduate programmes enable females to be able to enter the workforce and gain the necessary skills and experience, to be supported in the initial stages of their careers.

An organisation that understands the need for a diverse team, will be able to attract female employees and provide an inclusive working environment. However, being able to retain these employees requires a lot more effort. Organisations within the energy and engineering space moving forward will need to implement specialised recruitment, retention, and development strategies to gain long-term benefits to the organisation as a whole and its employees.

The Time is Now

As you enter 2023, it is necessary to recognise the opportunities that surround your business and consider how you can enhance your team by embracing diversity and acknowledging the current trends that are shaping the future of the energy sector.

To ensure long-term success and retention of female employees, you must understand the barriers which females face when entering the engineering sector, and how they can be best supported to advance their careers and skillset, which will, in turn, benefit the performance of your business and team culture.

Looking to diversify your team culture or simply want to have a private and confidential conversation about new opportunities within the energy sector? I am always happy to have a chat.

You can reach Tayla Wooley today on 03 467 7223 or tayla@fluidrecruitment.co.nz