A Letter to Engineering...

Dear Engineering,

Having achieved a Masters in Electronics from Queen's University Belfast followed by an internship at Goonhilly Satellite Station in Cornwall, my father returned to Nigeria in the late 1960s to set up the country’s first satellite earth station. He managed and organised the satellite broadcast of the fight between Mohammed Ali and George Foreman in 1974 - the infamous Rumble in the Jungle. This was my introduction to engineering and having grown up with my father, uncles and one or two aunts, working in the sector I've always seen engineering as an inclusive profession with potential to have a huge positive impact on people's lives.

This early exposure, both to engineering and to what women and men from different backgrounds can achieve, drives me to promote fair and equitable workplaces where all people thrive. Whatever role I have worked in, across a range of organisations, I have looked for opportunities to support the progression and inclusion of underrepresented groups.

What has changed?

Over the last seven years, I feel privileged to have been employed by the Royal Academy of Engineering (the Academy) to take on the challenge of increasing diversity and inclusion across the engineering profession. As I leave the Academy, I find myself reflecting on my time there in terms of what has changed:

1. The conversation on diversity and inclusion in engineering has evolved beyond gender.  Discussion now routinely includes other aspects such as sexual orientation, ethnicity, disability, socio-economic background, geographic location etc.
2. The proportion of women and ethnic minorities is heading in the right direction. When I started in 2011, women made up between 6 and 8% of the profession. The proportion is now 9% across the engineering sector and 12% across all sectors in the UK. For ethnic minorities the proportion has increased from 6% to 8%.
3. Focus has extended from overall proportions, as above, to include attention to the impact of employment policies and practices on different groups. Outcomes of attraction and recruitment, leadership, retention and progression activities are reviewed, and the Academy offers guidance on what leaders, managers and HR can do to improve.
4. Understanding and acceptance that strategy, planning, monitoring and resourcing need to be in place to drive change has increased. Without these elements in place, activity on diversity and inclusion can be sporadic, adhoc, disjointed and in some cases ill-informed.
5. More tools are available to help engineering employers and professional engineering institutions take strategic action.
6. The Academy now provides a platform for the profession to come together and take practical action. Several collaborations with employers have taken place over the years and more are underway. For instance, to close the engineering gender pay gap, develop a bespoke SME framework and increase the transition of more diverse engineering graduates into engineering employment by continuing to deliver the Graduate Engineering Engagement Programme.
7. There is now more focus on long term strategic culture change - as opposed to campaigns and adhoc activities.
8. More people in engineering appreciate that diversity and inclusion is not just about creating inclusive cultures to inspire, attract, recruit and retain engineers. It’s also about the outputs of engineering. Inclusive design, research, equipment and the elimination of algorithm bias are all now a regular part of the conversation.

What’s my wish list for engineering?

As I reflect on these changes and the future for diversity and inclusion in engineering, my wish list is that:

• The focus on diversity and inclusion continues, with even more focus on data, measurement and what works.
• The profession understands that work on diversity and inclusion is unlikely to be ‘finished’. Work to improve and deliver good practice will need to continue in a way similar to other organisational functions e.g. recruitment, finance, communication. These are never done because an organisation’s thirst for good financial management, new recruits or communication with potential customers and stakeholders is never satisfied and any suggestion they should be concluded in any organisation would be viewed with scepticism – so it should be for diversity and inclusion. As best practice, societal make-up and expectations of people in the workplace evolve and change, so will the need for diversity and inclusion.
• Work to bring the profession together to drive change continues. Whilst organisations can take individual action, the pace of change is faster when organisations come together, develop and exchange ideas, try different approaches, learn, adapt and adopt locally.
• More engineers take time to get to work with and know people from different backgrounds because this is the best way to tackle unconscious bias. The more people we meet who are not like us the more we appreciate that different groups are as complex and diverse as our own, challenging us to reappraise our stereotypes and assumptions.
• Organisations take more responsibility for driving change from the top and the centre rather than leave it to individual engineers/employees to carry the load of changing their organisations. It's fantastic that organisations have networks, allies and others challenging the status quo, but, to be really effective, effort needs to be supported by, and in collaboration with, senior decision makers and diversity and inclusion professionals.
• The profession transforms into one where anyone, anywhere with the right aptitude can become an engineer and progress to the highest level.

As I step away from the profession, I'm pleased to have been part of the change and will continue to cheer from the side-lines. Keep going engineering - the rewards are worth it!

All the very best,

Bola Fatimilehin