New survey results from element14 highlight strong support for female engineers

The 2021 e-Network Survey on Female Engineers shows that both male and female practitioners hope to address gender discrimination and inequality in the industry, and unanimously recommend taking necessary measures to solve the problems, such as allowing more women to enter leadership positions.

Shanghai, China, June 23, 2021 – Farnell element14, a global distributor of electronic components products and solutions under Avnet, announced the 2021 Female Engineer Survey. The survey results show that both male and female practitioners actively support female engineers, and men and women have very similar attitudes towards solving gender equality issues in the workplace. Although the proportion of female practitioners in the engineering/electronics industry is still relatively low, according to Farnell element14's latest survey, the industry generally believes that achieving gender equality is crucial.

More than 370 respondents participated in the global survey. All male and female respondents recognized the contribution of women to the engineering industry and called for addressing gender inequality. One of the key measures is to allow more women to enter leadership positions, thereby setting good role models and serving as career mentors for female practitioners in the industry. Regarding the issue of gender discrimination against female engineers, all respondents agreed that this phenomenon should be resisted, and all male respondents suggested implementing stronger and stricter gender equality policies to prevent gender discrimination in the workplace.

While respondents were highly consistent on many key issues, there were some important differences. According to the survey results, despite the gender pay gap, women still see high salaries as an advantage in engineering jobs, and they are not as bothered by business travel as men think. Only 15% of female respondents said they care about less business travel, while 25% of male respondents believe that less business travel is important to women.

On International Women Engineers Day, element11 announced the results of its 2021 Women Engineers Survey, which aims to share the success stories, career paths and opportunities and challenges faced by women engineers in the engineering or electronics industry. The survey was conducted for three months from March to May 2021 for all employed persons (regardless of gender). Most of the respondents were aged between 25 and 54, and more than half of them had more than 10 years of industry experience.

Rob Rospedzihowski, President of EMEA Sales at Farnell, the parent company of element14, said: “The engineering industry has made great progress in this regard, but we can do better. We will continue to fight for equality and fairness for everyone. Women colleagues do not want to just play a supporting role in a project, they want to have the opportunity to show their abilities and want their performance to be recognized. Their expectations send an important message that everyone in the team and the company should be regarded as an independent individual. On International Women in Engineering Day, I hope that colleagues in the industry will pay attention to this topic and discuss it. We can ask ourselves, our colleagues and even our teams, what we can do better. Only through such frank dialogue and communication can we truly achieve change.”

Dianne Kibbey, Global Head of Community and Social Media at element14, said: “This survey is a great opportunity. We have gained valuable insights directly from industry insiders, and have a better understanding of what is working and what needs to be done to improve the workplace for women. Although the survey also revealed some clear challenges facing the industry, the overall results are positive, with both men and women agreeing on some hot issues, such as the implementation of stronger gender equality policies. We are excited to see successful women in engineering share their success stories. Female colleagues should remain confident that they can inspire more women to succeed in the future and drive significant change in the engineering field.”

The survey also uncovered many stories of women’s career success, showcasing their outstanding achievements in the electronics industry, including:

• "During my internship, I have been involved in or in charge of several projects for large companies, some of which were worth more than $1 million. These project works were participated in while I was in school and after I started working."

• “My proudest achievement was taking over a failing electronics manufacturing business and turning it around. My second was taking on a leadership role and setting a record for the highest employee engagement and satisfaction in a manufacturing company.”

• “I took over a failed project that involved creating a new API with a third party. I turned it around and even had the project win an award.”

• “I successfully wrote an oscilloscope display program that was able to display the data results collected from the test on a monitor when the oscilloscope only had analog signals and could not receive any type of external data source.”

All respondents unanimously encouraged female practitioners to be more confident, believe in their professional abilities and face the challenges of working in the engineering field. The survey also revealed the main drivers for women to pursue careers in engineering, including the opportunity to participate in different projects (23%), foresee future technologies and witness their realization (15%), and flexibility and work-life balance (12%).