Women account for 13% of engineering workforce in Taiwan: survey

Taipei, March 8 (CNA) Only 13 percent of engineers in Taiwan are women and most believe they have to work harder to receive the same recognition or promotions as men, according to a survey released Sunday by the Chinese Institute of Engineers.

The survey on the relationship between career development and gender differences in engineering, the first of its kind in Taiwan, was conducted among engineers at 39 enterprises, seven government agencies and eight research and development corporations with a combined total of 130,000 employees. A total of 1,307 valid samples were collected, including 531 female respondents.

Women make up 15 percent of engineers in the civil engineering sector, 29 percent in the architecture and urban planning industry, 8 percent in electrical and electronic engineering, 18 percent in information and communications technology and 17 percent in chemical engineering materials, the survey showed.

Meanwhile, 44 percent of engineers in biomedical engineering are women, while women account for 17 percent of engineers in environmental engineering/green energy and 3 percent in mechanical engineering. In all sectors, women make up 13 percent of engineers, according to the survey.

Liao Ching-jong (???), president of the Chinese Institute of Engineers, said that to bring more women into the engineering and scientific technology sectors, the 109-year-old institute selected its first female director in 2012 and established a female engineer committee in 2019.

Although the number of women in science and engineering is growing, there is still a severe loss of female engineers during their transition from college to the workplace, Liao noted.

For instance, women account for 33 percent of graduates in architectural engineering, but only 17 percent work in the sector, Liao added.

However, women make up 14 percent of managers in the general engineering industry, higher than their 13 percent share of engineers, Liao pointed out.

More than 60 percent of male and female engineers saw no difference between male and female supervisors but both thought it is harder for women to secure a job in the field and get promoted, according to Hsueh Wen-jean (???), head of the Chinese Institute of Engineers' female engineer committee.

Sixty percent of female engineers believe they have to work harder to demonstrate their ability, receive recognition or get an opportunity for promotion, Hsueh added.

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel