WRITTEN BY: JENNA ANDERSON

Engineers Canada has committed to increasing the percentage of newly licensed Canadian engineers that are women to 30% by the year 2030. Currently, The number of newly licensed women engineers varies across Canada, with the highest percentage being in PEI (25%) and the lowest in the Yukon (12.5%). Overall, women make up less than 12% of practicing licensed engineers.

In order to achieve the 30 by 30, goal Engineers Canada is collaborating with provincial and federal regulatory bodies and other stakeholders. The following are Engineers Canada’s suggestions for internal activities to help achieve 30 by 30:

•  Appoint a Women in Engineering champion: this staff member should be in charge of sponsoring or partnering with other organizations, organizing outreach events and conducting research to support women within the engineering community.
•  Create a Women in Engineering or Diversity and Inclusion Committee: this committee should provide support, advice and guidance in terms of your organization’s Women in Engineering initiatives. The committee should have a dedicated budget and track progress towards 30 by 30.
•  Track all progress made towards 30 by 30 goal.
• Create and/or support an award for employers who support and promote Women in Engineering.
• Create and/or support scholarships for women engineering students who act as role models to girls in middle and high school.
• Showcase more women in your media publications (e.g. blog, news articles).
• Create a dedicated section for diversity and/or Women in Engineering on your website.
• Encourage women to volunteer in the community and act as role models for the engineering profession.
• Support networking to attract new, diverse members.
  

Engineers Canada also suggests partnering with external organizations to promote women in engineering. Check out our Resources page and, if you're interested in partnering with WWEST to do a workshop or talk about how to improve gender diversity in engineering, feel free to email us at wwest@sfu.ca.

Canadian universities are also making great strides towards increasing women in their engineering programs. Engineers Canada recognizes the University of Toronto, University of British Columbia, York University and University of New Brunswick for having adopted policies to increase their women engineering students.

If you would like to know how your organization can contribute to Engineers Canada’s 30 by 30 goal contact Julia Semenchenko, Practice Lead, Community Engagement: Julia.Semenchenko@engineerscanada.ca.