3. WOMEN IN ENGINEERING
The present study is divided in three main
components:
1. Statistics pertaining to female students
pursuing engineering studies,
2. Statistics regarding female engineers
employed in industry,
3. Conclusions and recommendations.
15th International Conference for Women Engineers and Scientists

4. Statistics pertaining to female students pursuing engineering studies
• Table 1: University of Johannesburg student population in Mechanical and Electrical
engineering, National Diploma qualification
Number of students Mechanical Engineering Technology; Electrical Engineering Technology;
per year of study National Diploma qualification National Diploma qualification
Female Male % Female Female Male % Female
2003 122 743 14 258 811 24
2004 169 834 20 243 824 23
2005 168 870 14 220 766 22
2006 225 921 20 226 728 24
2007 264 1033 20 231 686 25
2008 291 1099 21 203 676 23
2009 325 1052 24 204 643 24
2010 310 877 26 176 571 24
Total female students overall average % 19,8 23,6
• The Faculty of Engineering has 19 departments. In the present study detailed
statistics were provided for only three departments: Mechanical, Electrical and
Mining respectively.
• Chemical Engineering Technology department was not included in the “all other
engineering departments” due to approximately 50 % of female students , which
would have generate unrealistic overall statistics
15th International Conference for Women Engineers and Scientists

5. Statistics pertaining to female students pursuing engineering studies
Table 2: University of Johannesburg student population in Mining engineering and 15 other
engineering departments National Diploma qualification
Number of students Mining Engineering Technology; 15 other engineering departments;
per year of study National Diploma qualification National Diploma qualification
Female Male % Female Female Male % Female
2003 31 209 13 654 2454 21
2004 51 281 15 785 2817 22
2005 70 299 19 829 2836 23
2006 62 266 19 925 2800 25
2007 61 265 19 1006 2935 26
2008 69 302 19 1019 2985 25
2009 75 293 20 1103 2924 27
2010 97 289 25 1117 2655 30
Total female students overall average % 18,6 24,9
15th International Conference for Women Engineers and Scientists

6. Statistics pertaining to female students pursuing engineering studies
Table 3: University of Johannesburg student population in Mechanical and Electrical
engineering, Baccalaureus Technologiae (B – Tech) degree qualification
Number of students per Mechanical Engineering Technology; National Electrical Engineering Technology; National
year of study Diploma qualification Diploma qualification
Female Male % Female Female Male % Female
2003 7 102 6 21 146 13
2004 11 116 9 26 128 17
2005 19 112 15 31 124 20
2006 24 139 15 31 129 19
2007 27 158 15 34 139 20
2008 17 188 8 39 155 20
2009 42 255 21 56 166 25
2010 47 215 18 60 178 25
Total female students overall average % 13,4 19,9
15th International Conference for Women Engineers and Scientists

7. Statistics pertaining to female students pursuing engineering studies
Table 4: University of Johannesburg student population in Mining and 15 other
engineering departments, Baccalaureus Technologiae (B – Tech) degree
qualification
Number of students Mining Engineering Technology; 15 other engineering departments;
per year of study National Diploma qualification National Diploma qualification
Female Male % Female Female Male % Female
2003 3 44 6 77 442 15
2004 2 44 4 89 468 16
2005 1 62 1,6 116 527 18
2006 5 84 5,6 154 618 20
2007 10 75 12 164 638 20
2008 15 104 13 176 728 20
2009 14 57 20 245 758 24
2010 5 54 8,5 249 695 26
Total female students overall average % 8,8 19,9
15th International Conference for Women Engineers and Scientists

8. Statistics pertaining to female students pursuing engineering studies
A survey, involving a total number of 419 students from Mechanical,
Electrical and Mining Engineering Departments shows:
1. The majority of rural area children have no access to schools delivering a
quality teaching
2. Students who attend quality high schools, for lack of proper advice, do not
enrol for subjects relevant for further engineering studies.
3. Only 31 % female and 41 % male students received proper career choice
advice.
4. A comparison between a similar study carried out in 2005 and the present
shows no improvement regarding the high school teaching. Contrary, there is a
sharp drop from 14 % to only 5 % of other engineering subjects offered at high
school level.
15th International Conference for Women Engineers and Scientists

9. Statistics pertaining to female students pursuing engineering studies
Table 5: Graduation rates for Mechanical and Electrical engineering
Mechanical Engineering 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
National Diploma
Head count 122 169 168 225 264 291 325 310
Female
Graduate 9 8 7 16 21 36 55 24
Grad. Rate % 7,4 4,7 4,2 7,1 8 12,4 17 7,7
Head count 743 837 870 921 1033 1099 1052 877
Graduate 45 53 60 80 92 132 164 119
Male
Grad. Rate % 6 6 7 8,7 9 12 15,6 13,6
2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
Electrical Engineering
National Diploma
Head count 258 243 220 226 231 203 204 176
Female
Graduate 19 22 24 22 38 58 34 29
Grad. Rate % 7,4 9 11 9,7 16,5 28,6 16,7 16,5
Head count 811 824 766 728 686 676 643 571
Graduate 61 81 94 84 86 125 134 96
Male
Grad. Rate % 7,5 9,8 12,3 11,5 12,5 18,5 20,8 16,8
15th International Conference for Women Engineers and Scientists

10. Statistics pertaining to female students pursuing engineering studies
Table 6: Graduation rates for Mining and 15 other engineering departments
2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
Mining Engineering
National Diploma
Female Head count 31 51 70 62 61 69 75 97
Graduate 3 1 6 16 15 15 9 14
Grad. Rate % 9,7 2 8,6 25,8 26 21,7 12 14,4
Head count 209 281 299 266 265 302 293 289
Graduate 34 29 37 70 53 55 46 36
Male
Grad. Rate % 16,3 10,3 12,4 26,3 20 18,2 15,7 12,5
2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
15 other Engineering
National Diploma
Head count 258 243 220 226 231 203 204 176
Departments
Female
Graduate 19 22 24 22 38 58 34 29
Grad. Rate % 7,4 9 11 9,7 16,5 28,6 16,7 16,5
Head count 811 824 766 728 686 676 643 571
Graduate 61 81 94 84 86 125 134 96
Male
Grad. Rate % 7,5 9,8 12,3 11,5 12,5 18,5 20,8 16,8
15th International Conference for Women Engineers and Scientists

11. Statistics regarding female engineers employed in industry
Table 7: Baccalaureus Technologiae (B – Tech) graduate rates for Mechanical,
Electrical, Mining and 15 other engineering department
2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
15 other Engineering
National Diploma
Head count 258 243 220 226 231 203 204 176
Departments
Female
Graduate 19 22 24 22 38 58 34 29
Grad. Rate % 7,4 9 11 9,7 16,5 28,6 16,7 16,5
Head count 811 824 766 728 686 676 643 571
Graduate 61 81 94 84 86 125 134 96
Male
Grad. Rate % 7,5 9,8 12,3 11,5 12,5 18,5 20,8 16,8
Total of graduates 172 162 220 286 309 400 407 364
% Female graduates 19,2 15,4 16,8 18,4 23 21,5 28,3 29,4
1. After graduation the young engineers do not struggle to find employment as there is a
shortage of engineers worldwide and especially in South Africa.
2. Based on a survey conducted among engineering companies an inexplicable picture
emerges. Looks like our female engineers just “disappear”.
3. Considering the B-Tech graduates numbers, the female engineers represent about
21,5 % of the total number of graduates and should represent about the same
percentage of employed engineers.
4. However in the working place, an engineering company with 420 employees and not
one female engineer employed, is common occurrence.
15th International Conference for Women Engineers and Scientists

12. Statistics regarding female engineers employed in industry
Table 8: Female engineers employed in industry
The size of the company Large Large Medium Medium
R31,9 billion NA* NA* NA*
Annual turnover of the company
± 20 000** 23 657** 420** 430**
Total number of employees
Women (17,4 %)** Women (24,5%)**
Number of women employed by 3480 *** 5088*** 8*** 46***
the company (1,9%)** (10,7%)**
NA* 14 (0,27%)*** None None
Female engineers employed
(0,059)** (0%)*** (0%)***
Female engineers in medium level NA* NA* None None
management positions
Female engineers in top level 1 NA* None None
management positions
Female employees regardless of 38 (0,19%)** NA* 1 (0,23%)** 5 (1,16%)**
profession employed in top level
management positions
Female employees working as NA* NA* NA* 10
machine operators or labourers in
the workshop
Female employees working as NA* NA* 7 36
admin staff
NA* = Not Available
15th International Conference for Women Engineers and Scientists

13. Conclusions and recommendations
The present survey shows the following:
1. The engineering companies are reluctant to disclose certain statistics in writing.
• Only to 3 companies provided written data.
• The rest of 18 engineering companies approached, were reluctant to
provide written statistics but freely provided verbal information relating to
female engineers in their companies.
2. The majority of small and medium sized companies do not have any female
engineers in their staff complement.
3. Except for one very large international company, none of the surveyed
companies have any formal policies aimed at female engineers promotion and
retention.
• According to the person in charge with training, “all effort is being made to
bring in female graduates and bursars into the system”. In 2010 the
company recruited 34 engineering bursars out of which only 9 were female
(26,5 %).
15th International Conference for Women Engineers and Scientists

14. Conclusions and recommendations
4. A company whose main business is civil engineering and plant commissioning is
reluctant to employ female engineers due to the following reasons:
• The company’s work is contractor work, therefore the engineers have to go
where the work is.
• This is difficult for working mums as they need to move and travel, and
nearly impossible for single working mums without the extended family
support.
• Many of the male engineers do not move their families but go home in
weekends.
• As the women engineers do not want to be treated differently from their
male colleagues, the company encourage the trend of not moving the
families.
• This trend is in conflict with the women role as home maker, wife and
mother.
15th International Conference for Women Engineers and Scientists

15. Conclusions and recommendations
The current legislation requires businesses to report the number of
Women employed without specifying the job description. For a real
progress in women empowerment, the companies must focus on
several major points:
1. Aggressively target the employment of female engineers;
2. Introduce a “quota” of female engineers out of the total engineers
needed to be employed by the company;
3. Report the number of women employed with a qualification
relevant to the business to avoid skewed statistics;
4. Prioritise in house training for new employees grooming them for
management positions;
15th International Conference for Women Engineers and Scientists

16. Conclusions and recommendations
5. Educate the male staff about the positive contribution that female
engineers bring in the working place;
6. For equal work there should be equal pay. Some companies behind
the confidentiality of the pay slip, discriminate against women
considering the male the household head and sole provider. Many
women are single parents and the bread winner of their household.
In the current legislation framework this practice is illegal but still
used under the cover of confidentiality.
7. Promote a balance between work and family life.
• Provide accommodation suitable for a family where the contract
work take place;
• Provide child care facilities in the contract work place
15th International Conference for Women Engineers and Scientists