Those barriers should be identified and removed through discussions between engineers and teachers, according to diversity and education expert Jeff Greenidge. “What hurdles did you overcome?” asked the Association of Colleges’ director for diversity and governance at an IMechE event last week. “We need you to talk to us, and we will talk to you, and we will create something that is much more inclusive.”
The suggestion was made at Inclusivity by Design, the first event in the Institution’s new Engineering Needs Everyone series. Following on from the success of the Verena Holmes anniversary events in 2024, which celebrated the legacy of IMechE’s first female member, the evening set out to explore the steps organisations can and should take “to ensure all engineering spaces, both organisational and physical, are welcoming to all those with a contribution to make”.
Beyond the comfort zone
Held last Thursday (13 March) at the Institution’s headquarters in Westminster, London, the event came amid a global backlash against diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) measures, spearheaded by the second Donald Trump administration. The US president has suggested diversity measures could have been to blame for the Washington DC plane crash, while his senior adviser Elon Musk has railed against what he calls the “woke mind virus”. Companies including Google and Meta have cancelled DEI programmes since the start of Trump's presidency.
Speaking at the event, however, Greenidge said he was “happy to be woke” because it signals an inclusive approach to education and employment. The non-executive director at MTC Training stressed the importance of tackling internal biases during his presentation, which used the extended metaphor of building a concert hall with foundations, pillars, a stage and even mosaics with “jagged pieces”.
Equity – giving people that need it assistance, rather than distributing resources equally regardless of need – is a “superpower” when it comes to creating spaces where everyone can thrive, Greenidge said.
He also stressed the importance of diversity to creating innovative and dynamic workspaces. “We're all different, and so why wouldn't we want to make the most of that difference in this room – all those different thoughts, all those different experiences, all those different perspectives on life and on work?” he asked.
“We can create a space where people fit in or we can create a place where people stand out. And I think we in engineering want to create that space where people stand out.”
Embedding inclusivity into the “DNA” of organisations means taking risks, Greenidge added. “We have to move beyond the compliance, which is comfortable, to a much more uncomfortable place where we're talking about a cultural shift,” he said. “You are the ones who can help us do that because that's the way you think. You think about things right from the outset… as part of the overall picture.”
In education, Greenidge stressed the need for assessments and curricula that allow individuals to show what they can do. Engineering success stories should also be “amplified” to encourage more young people into the industry, he continued.
“One of the outcomes of this session, I hope, is that you in the engineering arena will talk a lot more to us in the education and training sector, so we can make those links,” he said.
The business case
Inclusion by design is not just the right thing to do, according to the second set of presenters – it “makes great business sense”. The case study focused on the development of the Kent and Medway Engineering, Design, Growth and Enterprise (Edge) hub at Canterbury Christ Church University.
The formation of the school of engineering, technology and design, housed in the new £65m Verena Holmes building, set out to tackle local challenges including unemployment, low wages, a lack of STEM employer visibility and a reduction in school pupils taking science at A-level.
“It absolutely cried out to me that the region needed a university that was known for widening participation and responding to workforce challenges,” said former deputy vice-chancellor of the university and chair of the IMechE Education and Skills Strategy Board Professor Helen James OBE.
“I was adamant I was not going to develop yet another ‘same old engineering department’: traditional curriculum, teaching, learning and assessment, masculine culture, staff and students, not industry-engaged… I was in a position of influence, and I was going to use that to the full.”
Also aimed at stemming the engineering ‘brain drain’ from the region, the new facility was based on “holistic, systems-based, integrated and inclusive” principles. This included removing maths and physics A-levels as entry requirements, both barriers that reduce the pool of people going to university.
Project leaders read the latest research literature on space layout, including measures to encourage inclusivity, such as collaborative learning spaces and maker spaces. They also made sure not to “clog up” the space with staff offices. “In essence, inclusion was and is the business case,” said James.
The school’s founding head, Professor Anne Nortcliffe, told Professional Engineering in 2022 that 40% of the staff were female, providing a wealth of role models for students. The website even used “feminised” language, she said, and avoided the use of stereotypical imagery to encourage female applicants.
“Everybody brings that own minority characteristic. But you have to help people to… see from everybody's perspective, to make sure they support the students appropriately, and nobody feels isolated,” she told the IMechE event. “DEI policy must exist, but it must be lived and breathed.”
Humanising engineering
The event concluded with a panel conversation featuring the presenters and other industry inclusivity experts. Facilitator Abbey Addison, an IMechE trustee board member, highlighted a recent BBC Bitesize survey that showed engineering was the second-most popular future profession for 13- to 16-year-olds. This is at odds with the huge annual shortfall in the number of engineers and technicians joining the industry, however, with current projections showing a gap of 37,000 to 59,000.
Asked how the industry could maintain interest from young people throughout their lives, Charlotte Briers from train manufacturer Alstom said it was important to “move away from stereotypes”.
“It's not just the stereotypical grease and mechanics, you know – it's human factors, it's industrial design, it's the biomedical stuff,” the rolling stock lead said. “It's opening up everyone's eyes to everything that engineering does. Engineering does touch everything in the world.”
Engineering broadcaster Dr Shini Somara, who is also board director of the Campaign for Science and Engineering and pro-chancellor at Brunel University of London, said it is important that engineers share their personal experiences to “humanise” the profession.
Education should also nurture different ways of learning such as hands-on work, she said, to maximise everyone’s potential, including neurodiverse people. “Why are we not nurturing these different ways of learning? All these different strands of characters and talents and skills.”
Neurodiversity networks can help companies adapt and become more inclusive in their application processes, said Steven Murray, senior resourcing lead at Babcock International Group. “We used to ask: ‘Are you registered as disabled?’ We don't do that any more, because a lot of neurodiverse people do not classify themselves as being disabled, but they still need reasonable adjustments.
“So our question, through discussion within the neurodiversity network, has become: ‘Do you require any reasonable adjustments to the application process? If you do, please let us know.’”
‘Diversity of thought’
Other topics included the risk that some older engineers might see inclusivity initiatives as weakening the profession “by lowering standards and systems”. Reciprocal mentoring – also known as co-mentoring, in which junior and senior employees both share their knowledge and experiences of work – can help turn that conversation around, Nortcliffe said, changing older employees into advocates for DEI measures.
Inclusivity and diversity efforts should be seen from the perspective of the impact they make, Greenidge said. “It's not a deficit. Part of this is about using people's different talents and different skills.”
IMechE chief executive Dr Alice Bunn OBE highlighted the useful support on the Institution’s Culture and Inclusion webpage as she brought the event to a close. “If we've got the right values in an organisation, that encourages the right behaviours,” she said. “If we have the right behaviours, that encourages inclusion. And if we get true inclusion, we get a diversity of thought.”
Engineering Needs Everyone: Inclusivity by Design is now available to watch online.
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Content published by Professional Engineering does not necessarily represent the views of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers.