UNESCO Engineering for Sustainable Development Report: Diversity and Inclusion in Engineering

The UNESCO Engineering Report entitled Engineering for Sustainable Development is published today, World Engineering Day, 4th March 2021. I am pleased to have authored the chapter 2 on Diversity and Inclusion in Engineering. The full report can be found here.

Over the past decade, diversity and inclusion in engineering has become a mainstream topic for many engineering organizations around the world. This has been driven largely by a number of overarching factors including: i) increasing recognition of the current and historic lack of equality in opportunities for all; ii) a skills shortage driven by an increasingly technical world, coupled with an ageing demographic; iii) acknowledgement of the reality that innovation, profit and high-quality engineering is improved with a more diverse team of engineers; and iv) an increasing focus on the SDGs and what this means within the engineering sector. It is now recognized that a more interdisciplinary approach and inclusive mindset will enable global challenges to be addressed in a more balanced and holistic way, ensuring that progress made against one goal is simultaneously considered against other goals. A diverse and inclusive workforce is vital for the successful implementation of solutions to address these multiple and diverse goals, and this workforce must ensure that their engineering and technological outputs (products, services, solutions) are equally accessible and inclusive of all. Indeed, none of the SDGs will be achieved without considering solutions through a ‘diversity’ lens and without the full participation of under-represented and marginalized groups, as well as their effective participation in decision-making roles in political, economic and public life.

Moreover, it is understood that the effects of climate change, such as droughts, floods and other extreme weather events, will have a disproportionate effect on women and marginalized people globally. In many occupations, women’s lower socio-economic and managerial status results in them having a limited voice where key decisions are being taken, and their status and experience as gatekeepers of family, food, health and home mean that these perspectives are poorly represented in solution outcomes. Women’s restricted access in some parts of the world to education, land ownership and independence often means that their needs are poorly served by engineering and technology solutions. Encouraging more diverse representation in engineering and ensuring the progress of these groups towards senior decision-making positions is seen as crucial to enabling these views, so that they are equally represented and ultimately successful in addressing all of the SDGs.

A factor that is growing in importance and recognition is the need to ensure that bias and discrimination are not embedded in future engineering solutions. Huge changes are taking place with a shift towards a more digitized world driven by big data, machine learning, autonomous systems and Artificial Intelligence. Without vigilance, there is a risk that historical biases and discriminations will be built into new systems, inadvertently resulting in the proliferation of discrimination and the reinforcement of bias. Many examples have already come to light where largely unseen algorithmic decision-making succeeds in further discriminating against certain groups of the population. By ensuring a diverse workforce that represents all perspectives, these biases are more likely to be recognized and prevented.

Changing culture In order to successfully achieve diversity and inclusion, the culture of engineering must ensure that all people feel comfortable and included, and that they are able to bring their own identity and their own differences to the sector. Care must be taken to change the culture rather than changing people to fit the existing culture. Failure to do this prevents the ‘diversity premium’ from being achieved, and the rewards of less biased and more socially just engineering solutions will not be maximized such that the retention of diverse talent will falter. Employee resource or affinity groups play an effective role in supporting and empowering under-represented groups. There is also growing evidence that the non-inclusive culture in the construction sector is leading to mental health issues and an increased risk of suicide among male workers.

Some progress can be achieved through changes to structures and processes, such as: i) adopting inclusive recruitment mechanisms and leadership styles; ii) embedding bias eliminators into systems such as pay and remuneration; and iii) implementing mentoring and reverse mentoring to ensure the progression of under-represented groups and the elimination of inequalities. Targets, action plans, metrics and accountability are crucial for driving culture change.

Finally, it should be noted that the inherent skills required from engineers are distinctly changing as technology evolves. As Artificial Intelligence, machine learning and the use of robotics distance humans from the ‘hands-on’ skills that were synonymous with engineering in the past, the need for people with competencies that were previously described as ‘soft skills’ are increasingly being seen as the ‘critical skills’ of the future. Competencies such as resilience, agility, the ability to acquire new knowledge, team working and communication will all become as important, if not more important, than the detailed technical knowledge that has previously been valued in engineering. This in turn will call for a different type of engineer, one where diverse characteristics are valued at a premium. This shift in the perception of engineering will over time bring with it a change in employees, as people see engineering less as a dirty, mainly masculine occupation, and more as a profession that requires a wide range of skills to ensure success.

Recommendations: The following recommendations aim to address existing barriers that prevent the engineering sector from being more diverse and inclusive.

1. Educational institutions should provide barrier-free pathways and access to engineering education for all students and at every career stage, so as to enable a diverse educational environment where inclusive teaching and learning – with a consistent focus on the role of engineering to address the SDGs – will develop an inclusive mindset among future engineers.

2. Workplaces should foster a culture of change by assigning clear responsibility and accountability for success, as well as a business strategy with targets and metrics for achieving equality, diversity and inclusion.

3. Professional engineering institutions and registration bodies must provide leadership in order to embed the values of diversity and inclusion into training courses, accreditation and professional registration, and to develop benchmarking data, gathered in compliance with the Inclusive Data Charter (IDC) to standardize monitoring and international comparisons.

4. Governments should increase funding for key priorities in conjunction with: i) levers such as the integration of equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) metrics and targets into public procurement contracts; ii) structural enablers such as shared parental leave, flexible working policies and mandatory pay gap reporting; and iii) the use of Diversity Impact Assessment (DIA) audits for all policy decisions.

5. Organizations should identify and address systemic and structural discrimination, intolerance and inequalities that prevent certain sectors of society from obtaining equal access to opportunities.

6. The engineering sector as a whole should embrace the ‘leave no one behind’ ethos of the SDGs and ensure that technological solutions address current inequalities.

Over the coming months I would like to make some progress on these recommendations, and welcome any ideas or offers of support in doing this. Please get in touch.