The following statistics from the Women’s Engineering Society show a worrying picture for women working in technology and the future of the UK.

Only 6% of the engineering workforce in the UK is female (1)
Only 5.5% of engineering professionals are female and only 27% of engineering and science technicians are female (2)
Only 5.3% of women in the UK are involved in SET compared with 33% of men (3)
Nearly half (46%) of all co-ed secondary state schools sent no girls on to do physics at A level in 2011 (4)
In 2012 nearly 4 out of 5 (79%) of those who took A level physics were male (5)
Only about half (51%) of female STEM graduates actually go on to work in STEM roles, compared with over two thirds (68%) of male STEM graduates (6)
In 2011, men were awarded 85% of engineering and technology degrees and 82% of computer science degrees (7)
In the same year, 83% medical degrees and 79% of veterinary science degrees went to women (7)
In 2012 girls achieved better or equal A*- C GCSE combined grades compared to boys in all STEM subjects, except Mathematics (1 percentage point difference), ‘other science’ and ‘other technology’ (8)
The UK needs to double the number of recruits into engineering to meet demand (9)
Females completed 4.3 per cent (1,140) of Engineering and Manufacturing apprenticeships in 2010/2011 (10)
Sources

Royal Academy of Engineering analysis of the Labour Force Survey, 2004-10, quoted in Diversity Data, RAEng, 20
WISE analysis of Labour Force Survey, April-June 2012, WISE statistics 2012
UKRC analysis of Labour Force Survey, 2008, UK Statistics Guide, UKRC, 2010
It’s Different for girls, Institute of Physics, 2012
Joint Qualification Council, quoted in The State of Engineering, Engineering UK 2013
HESA destination of leavers from higher education institutions, 2009/10, quoted in The State of Engineering, Engineering UK 2013
HESA, 2010/11, quoted in WISE statistics 2012
WISE analysis of GCSE results, June 2012, WISE statistics 2012
EngineeringUK at launch of The State of Engineering, 2013
WISE statistics 2012 www.wisecampaign.org.uk