Advancing the Path of Women in Engineering

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Lilian San Martín Medina, Dean of the School of Engineering at Andrés Bello University in Concepción.

Gender equality in higher education is a key issue for the sustainable development of our society. However, The engineering profession in Latin America continues to face significant challenges in terms of female participation.

Despite women making up the majority of total higher education enrolment, they are alarmingly underrepresented in engineering fields. The Higher Education Information Service (SIES) report, “Gender Gaps in Higher Education 2023”, In ChileWomen make up 52.5% of total first-year undergraduate enrollment, but only 38.9% of engineering students are women.

This phenomenon is not unique to Chile. According to UNESCO data from 2023, women hold only 33.3% of scientific and technological research positions. In Latin America, although women make up 44.4% of researchers, this is a slight decrease from 44.9% in 2011, highlighting the need for public policies to promote gender equality in STEM (science, technology, engineering) and mathematics fields.

Attrition is another key factor exacerbating the gender gap in engineering. Women in these professions drop out at higher rates than their male peers, reflecting not only a lack of institutional support but also a range of structural and cultural barriers that must be addressed. Effective policies must be implemented not only to attract more women to these professions, but also to retain and support them throughout their academic and professional lives.

Universities play a fundamental role in this process. For example, the Andrés Bello University (UNAB) has developed a gender equality policy and training program aimed at raising awareness of the importance of equity in the academic community. Thanks to specific scholarship and support programs, the UNAB Concepcion campus has increased the participation rate of women in engineering careers from 18% in 2022 to 24% in 2023 and 31% in 2024.

Organizations such as Women Engineers Chile also play a vital role. The goal is to attract and retain women in engineering through mentoring programs, workshops, and networking events. These types of initiatives not only help empower women, but also foster a more inclusive and diverse environment in the workplace for professional and future female engineers.

At the public policy level, the ECLAC report Public Policies for Gender Equality in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) highlights the importance of specific interventions to promote gender equality in these fields. ECLAC advocates for policies that address the underrepresentation of women in STEM fields and promote their participation from early education to the labour market.

Continuing to advance gender equality in the engineering profession is an important challenge, but an absolute necessity. While we have made some progress, statistics remind us that there is still much work to be done. That is why the organization is committed to building cultural change with meaning and purpose through programs and support for universities, professional bodies, CFTs, and public and private organizations, supported by policies, processes, and procedures that remain in place at that time. The participation of women in engineering not only enriches the diversity of the field, but also brings new perspectives and innovative solutions to technical and scientific challenges, which is essential to meeting the challenges of the 21st century.

Closing the gap in STEM fields means increasing the participation of women in companies because by breaking horizontal segregation and getting women into masculine industries, the diversity of perspectives in these fields will increase, thus breaking down stereotypes and invisible barriers in these fields, allowing women to start taking up responsible positions.