Today is International Women in Engineering Day and to celebrate this, a report has looked into the number of women interested in STEM sectors and found that five times as many women are currently studying engineering than just five years ago (2017).

The latest figures from UK Gov apprenticeship data show that, on average, one in ten engineering students are female. Moreover, the report found that Ipswich is leading the way for women in STEM, as the only region in the UK where two in ten engineering apprentices are female.

There are over 20 other towns in the UK where women make up one tenth of the engineering course, including Derby, Leicester, Portsmouth and Wakefield.

The report also found that more women are picking up tools and entering the wider construction industry than ever before, with a 366% increase in females taking on trade apprenticeships in the UK.

And for the women interested in studying engineering or hoping to study a new trade then London is the place to be – the Capital is storming ahead in terms of apprenticeship roles. There are 3,930 registered female apprentices across its boroughs, learning construction, planning, manufacturing and more. The highest number of female construction apprentices by London borough are as follows:

• Southwark – 31% of apprentices in construction are females
• Wandsworth (28.28%)
• Redbridge (16.67%)
• Havering (14.55%)
• Barking (10.91)
• Barnet (10.87%)

“It’s brilliant to see that more and more women are entering careers in engineering and trade. The industry has been overwhelmingly male dominated for such a long time and although we still have a long way to go, these figures are very encouraging when you look back at just five years ago when under 1 in 25 women made up the engineering student body. Hopefully we’ll have at least doubled these numbers and gone even further towards addressing the gender imbalance in another five years’ time,” commented Ryan Fulthorpe, spokesperson for the report.

“If life on the tools is calling to you, a van will be one of your biggest purchases and our research shows that last summer alone there was a large jump from April to July when quotes for van insurance doubled as more women looked to start their own business. Right now, one in 10 van quotes are for females, which is up 6% in comparison on last year!

“The average best premium for female van drivers aged 17-24 is £2,029 versus £2,218 for males in the same age group, so this is an opportunity that we’d love to see more women exploring as they enter the trade industry for the first time.”