This week saw the celebration of International Women’s Day, and Network Rail are pushing this even further, by implementing a recruitment drive for more women in the business. Network Rail have announced their target of women to make up at least 20% of its intake by 2020.
As it currently stands, only 16% of Network Rail’s 37,000 strong work force is female. However, this is still a positive when compared with only 9% of women which make the up the overall engineering workforce according to research published by the Women’s Engineering Society.
Network Rail director of diversity and inclusion Loraine Martins said girls as young as seven believed engineering was not a viable career option for them.
“There is still a wide perception that engineering jobs are for boys only,” she said.
It would be fair to say that sexism in the workplace has been a problem which many have come across. And engineering has been widely considered to be a male-dominated culture for a long time. One director of a major construction firm recently stated that there were more members on their board named Geoff, than there are women.
Women are yet to be fully initiated in to the engineering industry, as their still seems to be a lack of suitable clothing available. Also, the recent debate about the inappropriateness of ‘male behaviour’ on sites like construction and engineering – perceived as sexist banter, and in extreme cases sexual harassment, it would appear this prejudice is deeply rooted in the culture in these industries.
We here at West Riding are thrilled to see Network Rail launching a scheme to encourage more women into an industry that was previously not so common. It is great to hear that whilst that change may be a slow one, the change is happening nevertheless.
West Riding Recruitment is an independently owned recruitment agency, who aim to provide a loyal and committed service to both client and candidate. Based in Wakefield, we recruit jobs in all sectors across the Yorkshire region. Should you wish to speak to one of our team, then why not call us today on 01924 650404.