Government publishes guide to funding to develop women engineers

The funding arises from a recommendation in the Perkins Review of Engineering Skills. Professor Perkins reviewed the short term engineering skills pressures and how they impacted on key sectors of the economy. He argues in the report that substantially increasing the number of engineers would help the UK economy. A key recommendation of his to Government was that: "Government should invite employers to put forward innovative proposals to develop engineering skills in sectors suffering acute skills shortages." A key element of his analysis on ways to increase the number of engineers focused on the gender imbalance in engineering and the potential to significantly increase the stock of engineers by improving the proportion of women working in engineering jobs. The guide – Employer Ownership: Developing Women Engineers –is the Government's response to Professor Perkins' recommendation on supporting innovation and focuses on the gender imbalance.