In honour of Women's History Month, and International Women’s Day, we’re launching a survey to learn more about what it is like for women in the electronics industry today. This survey is open to anyone working in the engineering and electronics space and we’re hoping to hear from as many people as possible to get representative results. Our plan is to share our findings in June alongside Women in Engineering Day.
The purpose of the survey is to understand women’s experiences, career paths, overall challenges and opportunities in engineering and in the electronics industry. But we’re not just hoping to hear from women. We’re hoping to hear from people working in this industry – whatever their age, race, or gender so that we can gain insights around what is working well for women in the industry and what could be improved.
A foreword from Dianne Kibbey, Global Head of element14 Community :
This is personal for me, since I’ve faced my share of challenges over my decades-long career in IT and electronics. My introduction into the tech field was in being one of just a handful of women in senior level computer science classes in college, where I majored in computer science and Math. Once I graduated, I frequently found myself as the only woman in a conference room. I am still often only one of a few women at workplace meetings. I know firsthand how isolating and unwelcoming the industry can be for women – and am committed to instilling change.
I have been lucky enough to see the evolution of the electronics industry, be part of the change and to witness improvements, but I know there is still more work to do. One of the ways many people focus on closing the gender gap in the tech industry is by encouraging girls to study STEM. I personally volunteer with local groups to help girls learn about Raspberry Pi and Micro:Bit projects to help get them interested in our field and I have mentored many fellow female engineers over the years.
But what about women graduating this spring? How welcoming will the workplace be for them? With all of the focus around STEM education, women still only make up around 24% of the technology positions, but 47% of the workforce, according to a recent Deloitte study.
My hope is for the element14 Community to be part of the solution. Our goal is to be a safe, comfortable, and welcoming space on the internet for everyone (not always something that is easy to find). Since our #BadAss women in engineering competition one year ago we have increased our number of female video producers, RoadTesters and overall members. Our female viewership on the element14 Presents show has increased from 6.7% to 8.4% in the last two months. We are making some good progress, but we’re not finished yet!
And that’s where this survey comes in. In partnership with our colleagues across Farnell, Newark, element14 and Avnet, we want to hear from members of the industry: Have you witnessed or experienced discrimination against female colleagues or engineers? What barriers do you see that might be holding us back from reaching equality? What are some of the things you’d like to see, or recommendations you’d make for us?
Thank you in advance for taking just a few minutes to complete the below survey and share your thoughts. We really appreciate you sharing your experience with us. As engineers, we understand that we can only find the solution once we clearly understand and see the problem.
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