A diverse workforce, made up of people with different backgrounds, experiences and perspectives, is crucial for driving innovation, problem solving and better decision-making.
Yet, Australia’s engineering workforce has a poor scorecard when it comes to diversity – with women being sorely underrepresented and overseas-born engineers experiencing higher unemployment rates than their Australian-born counterparts.
This lack of diversity is particularly disturbing given the predicted increases in major public infrastructure activity – where labour shortages have the potential to derail progress.
What are the barriers to diversity and inclusion and how do we dismantle them?
We spoke to and surveyed industry leaders attending the 2022 Engineers Australia and KPMG Event series The Future of Engineering: Why inclusion and diversity matter.
Our report pulls together the findings and explores the way forward.
Gender diversity: the challenge of women in engineering
Our report unpacks the issues of gender diversity and explores opportunities for change.
48%
of overall workforce
are women
13%
of working engineers
are women
16%
of engineering graduates
are women
What are the barriers to diversity and inclusion in engineering?
30%
say organisational culture
29%
say leadership capability
32%
say talent management and career progression
29%
say recruitment system and processes
30%
say pathways to enter and re-enter engineering
Tangible steps to accelerate change
Create an inclusive culture that values diversity
This includes deep culture change with leaders clearly articulating why diversity is an imperative and how it drives better results.
Establish modern HR
practices
From targeted training and flexible work practices to diverse recruitment panels and a focus on people re-entering the engineering workforce.
Commit to action through targets and measurement
Look at ways to accelerate the speed of change including an exploration of the pros and cons of diversity targets.
Change is uncomfortable with perceived winners and losers. We need greater transparency on the actions we are taking to create a diverse workplace so we can genuinely support each other through this transition.
Get in touch
At KPMG, we’re committed to diversity and inclusion in our own practice and we have a deep understanding of the issues and opportunities. Though driving significant change in engineering diversity is a complex and long-term challenge, we’re committed to moving the conversation forward. Get in touch to find out more.
