Shini Somara: Is manufacturing in the UK diverse?
Fiona McGarry: It’s probably one of the least diverse sectors within engineering. Only 29 per cent of the workforce and only 8 per cent of its apprentices are female. Less than 10 per cent of engineers and technicians come from an ethnic minority background. There’s a lot of work to be done in spite of a lot of work that has already been done over the last 15 years; unfortunately progress is slow.
In the last couple of years, I have started to see a shift. Younger people and parents are understanding that it isn’t a dirty, horrible, male-dominated, environment. There are also lots of exciting digital AI prospects and it’s a progressive and supportive environment.
The industry is aware of the necessity for diversity, because it enables a better understanding of customer needs. There is no point in designing solutions for just one homogeneous sector of society. Diversity, in other words, is better for business...