Published 29th October 2020.

Defence Equipment and Support, the procurement arm of the Ministry of Defence, has partnered with Women’s Engineering Society to further develop and support female engineers and inspire the next generation of girls to consider a career in engineering.

The partnership with Women’s Engineering Society, who has been championing diversity in engineering since 1919, marks DE&S’ ongoing commitment to improve diversity and inclusion in the engineering sector.

Speaking about the partnership with Women’s Engineering Society, Min Rodriguez, Equality, Diversity, Inclusion and Wellbeing Lead at DE&S, said: 

“Women continue to be underrepresented in engineering. Despite efforts to address the imbalance, just 12% of those working in engineering occupations are women compared with 47% of the overall UK workforce.

“Engineering is our largest function with around 3,400 staff, but just nine per cent of our engineering function are women, so it’s clear we need to do more to attract, engage and retain females in engineering.

DE&S already supports Women’s Engineering Society’s International Women in Engineering Day and regularly engages in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) outreach events to encourage diversity and increased rates of participation among young people.

It also has its own Women Engineering Network providing support and opportunities for women working in engineering roles at DE&S and come up with ideas to inspire female engineers of the future. The network has grown to more than 80 members and is leading positive change within the organisation. 

Defence Equipment and Support has opportunities for world-class engineers, mathematicians, scientists, quality and safety professionals and a range of supporting specialists to help deliver the most advanced defence equipment in the world.

Find out more about the Defence Equipment and Support’s engineering function and the career opportunities available here: https://des.mod.uk/careers/engineering-roles/