Engineering needs to attract more women to fill its 6,000 vacancies

Gender pay gap: 20.1% of male engineering graduates earn a salary of €60,000 or more versus 12.7% of females

Engineers in Ireland are in roles within medical devices, software and robotics and wind energy along with the more typical roles like construction, says Engineering Ireland. Photo: iStock

Failure to address the gender imbalance in engineering will exacerbate the existing skills shortage, warns Engineers Ireland (EI), the industry’s national representative body.

The engineering sector employs 60,000 people in Ireland. Recent research for EI estimated that 6,000 vacancies in engineering would arise in 2024.