Transforming the future of NDT

27/06/2019

2019 marks the 100-year anniversary of the Women’s Engineering Society (WES), which was first established to support women in engineering following their roles within the industry during the First World War.

Over the past 100 years there has been a cultural shift towards the acceptance of women within the engineering sector, which has positively impacted upon the diversity of the workforce in the UK. Research highlights that a workforce with a wide range of backgrounds, perspectives and experiences maximises organisational performance in terms of quality, safety, innovation, creativity, retention and engagement¹, all factors that are essential for growth and development within the NDT industry. 

However, there is still a long way to go to create a diverse and inclusive workforce within NDT. Women still remain under-represented in engineering, with just 9% working in engineering compared with 51% in the overall UK workforce¹; this figure being lower within the NDT industry, at 8%². Research suggests this gender imbalance has implications not just for the immediate workforce, but also in terms of the extent to which girls are likely to be attracted to the industry in the future as a result of stereotypes and unconscious biases.

Unconscious biases are judgements or decisions we make on the basis of our prior experience, our own personal deep-seated thought patterns, assumptions or interpretations, without any awareness that we are doing it³. Our unconscious mind automatically categorises people to enable us to make rapid decisions without having to engage the limited resources of the conscious mind that are required for more complex cognitive tasks, for example problem solving and planning. Everyone has unconscious biases: we are born with a preference to associate with people who are similar to ourselves based on various characteristics, for example gender, accent, education, age, ethnicity, hobbies and interests.

Unconscious biases mainly occur from groups with similar interests (in-group) towards those who do not have the same interests (out-group). They provide a quick judgement about what you may expect from people in certain situations, for example the kind of people you expect to see and accept in engineering. Children often expect to see men in engineering roles and so young girls may not believe that a career in engineering is an option for them⁴. To work towards creating a more diverse and inclusive industry, the barriers and challenges faced by young girls and women must be addressed, starting with the stereotypes and unconscious biases that still pervade our culture.

Studies⁵ show that role models are an incredibly effective way to encourage girls and women to consider a career in engineering. Girls exposed to women in counterstereotypical roles, for example a female engineer, are more likely to automatically associate women with these roles and are therefore more likely to consider a career in engineering.

“The NDT industry is unknown to most people, yet it plays such an important role throughout the engineering sector. The fact that NDT is unknown creates even more challenges to attract young talent, especially women. The more women who are in engineering positions, acting as role models, helps create a positive perception of NDT and challenges attitudes and biases that engineering is only for men,” said Rachel Wood, an NDT tutor at Lavender International.

Lavender International is championing diversity and continually working towards creating a more inclusive culture by:

• Raising awareness about unconscious biases to its employees and the benefits of having a diverse and inclusive culture;
• Acting as role models;  
• Inspiring the younger generation by attending career events, delivering NDT workshops to local schools and colleges, promoting the NDT apprenticeship schemes, being involved in STEM events and supporting work experience placements;
• Supporting the development of all its employees;
• Creating an inclusive environment for its students;
• Ensuring it portrays a gender balance on its website and in its marketing material; and
• Adapting its recruitment process to ensure it is as inclusive as possible.

1. Royal Academy of Engineering, ‘Creating cultures where all engineers thrive’, 2017.
2. ‘BINDT Survey 2016: A summary of results’, 2016.
3. The Royal Society, ‘Unconscious bias’, 2015.
4. Cheryan, Master and Meltzoff, ‘Cultural stereotypes as gatekeepers: increasing girls’ interest in computer science and engineering by diversifying stereotypes’, 2015.
5. Dasgupta and Asgari, ‘Seeing is believing: exposure to counterstereotypic women leaders and its effect on the malleability of automatic gender stereotyping’, 2004.

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