Socio-economic diversity in the engineering sector: access, pay and progression

This report finds that professional roles in engineering are more socio-economically diverse than most other sectors, including journalism and law.

Engineering is often considered an exemplar sector for socio-economic diversity and today’s report provides a closer look at access to, and progression within, the profession. While professional roles in engineering are more diverse than many other sectors, pathways to entering the profession can still be difficult for those from lower socio-economic backgrounds. To support access to, and progression within, engineering, this report makes several recommendations for the sector.

Key findings include:

• Just over one in five (21%) professionals in engineering are from a lower socio-economic background, which is higher than doctors (6%), journalists (12%) and professionals in law (13%), although still lower than the workforce as a whole (29%).

• While professional roles in engineering are more diverse than many other sectors, pathways to entering the profession can still be difficult for those from disadvantaged backgrounds. Barriers include disparities in GCSE attainment and differences in access to subjects like triple science and physics.

• Pay gaps by socio-economic background are smaller in engineering than most other sectors, but those from higher socio-economic backgrounds are still much more likely to progress to senior roles. Almost three quarters (71%) of people in their thirties from higher socio-economic backgrounds are in managerial or professional roles, compared with just 39% from lower socio-economic backgrounds.