Roundtable unites leaders on gender divide

A North East initiative is helping tackle gender imbalance in engineering and manufacturing through industry-wide collaboration.

Power of Women (PoW) joined forces with the Advanced Manufacturing Forum (AMF) to host a roundtable for International Women in Engineering Day.

The invitation-only event, supported by Cummins, was held at Durham University’s Waterside building and brought together regional leaders from education, engineering and manufacturing.

Women currently make up just 16.5 per cent of the UK’s engineering workforce and 26 per cent of manufacturing roles, despite representing 48 per cent of the UK workforce.

The event, led by Rachel Mansfield, managing director at Responsive Engineering, and organised by Rachel Skeoch, AMF director, focused on ways to shift this, exploring early outreach, visible role models, workplace flexibility and inclusive progression routes.

Rachel said: “Engineering is, at its core, about solving problems, and the best solutions come when we bring together different backgrounds, experiences and perspectives.

“That’s why driving diversity – including gender balance – isn’t just the right thing to do. It’s essential for progress.  

“The roundtable sparked open, honest conversations filled with real experiences, practical ideas and a shared drive to create change.”

The roundtable also marked the beginning of a regional partnership committed to increasing diversity in engineering and laying the foundations for long-term, cross-sector change.

Sophie McKenna, PoW campaign manager, added: “This event was about bringing people together to move the conversation beyond the data.

“We want to create a space where industry voices can be honest about the challenges and collaborate on practical, meaningful solutions that make engineering and manufacturing in the North East more inclusive.”

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