Foreword
At the IET, equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) are core to our values and beliefs and run throughout our Strategy 2030. Together, we're building an inclusive culture that inspires, engages and celebrates the diversity of our members, volunteers, colleagues* and the wider engineering and technology community. We want everyone to fulfil their potential and feel they belong in engineering and technology.
*By colleagues we mean everyone who works for and within the IET. Within this strategy there are times when we discuss our role and ambitions as an employer, in those terms we mean anyone who directly works for the IET.
"Equality, diversity and inclusion are central to our values and beliefs in the IET and run throughout our Strategy 2030. In the UK, there is a recruitment shortfall in our engineering profession, which coincides with only 12% of women choosing to take up places at college and universities to study engineering. We also know that increased diversity leads to enhanced creativity, innovation and collaboration - the skills we need to engineer a better world. Above all, promoting EDI is fundamentally the right thing to do in any organisation, for the wellbeing of its people and to help everyone to realise their full potential. Together we are building an inclusive culture that inspires, engages and celebrates the diversity of our colleagues, volunteers, members for the greater good of the whole engineering and technology community. Indeed, we are restless and continual development of EDI underpins the IET’s DNA."
"It is vital that the IET creates an environment where all of our members, volunteers and colleagues feel valued and can succeed. We know that the Engineering and Technology sectors are not as diverse and inclusive as they should be and as one of the largest Professional Engineering Institutions, we have a responsibility and an opportunity to change that. By improving EDI holistically we will help ensure that everyone feels they belong, can participate in and benefit from engineering a better world."
Board of Trustees EDI Champions
“I’m inspired by the progress that we’ve made so far with our EDI strategy to 2025 but we still have much work to do. As our knowledge and data sets have grown we have evolved our strategy to ensure we see the significant impact we’re all so eager for. We want everyone to fulfil their potential and feel they belong in engineering and technology.”
“I’m proud to support the IET’s EDI strategy to ensure our membership is inclusive and accessible to all. Engineering is for everyone and we must work together to ensure that we engineer a better world for all.”
“It is exciting to see the IET evolving its leadership in the area of EDI to reflect progress that has already made and resetting the targets to build on the momentum attained. Inclusion is a crucial part of engineering a better world, all the way from systems design and to building effective teams.”
About the IET
We are the IET and we inspire, inform and influence the global engineering community to engineer a better world. As a diverse home across engineering and technology, we share knowledge that helps make better sense of the world in order to solve the challenges that matter. It’s why we are uniquely placed to champion engineering.
Introduction
This EDI strategy to 2025 supports our objectives, vision, mission, values and supporting behaviours. It demonstrates our commitment to providing equal opportunity for all and highlights that we value everybody associated with us.
Vision
As a registered charity, our purpose is to enable the engineering and research community to better serve society and this is captured in our vision statement:
“Working to engineer a better world.”
Our EDI strategy contributes to that by:
“delivering equality, diversity and inclusion across the IET and in the profession we represent, we will advance excellence in engineering a better world”.
Mission
The IET’s mission statement is:
“To inspire, inform and influence the global engineering community, supporting technology innovation to meet the needs of society.”
Our EDI strategy contributes to that by:
“Inspiring, informing and influencing members, volunteers, colleagues, organisations and the wider engineering and technology community with a focus on improving EDI in terms of disability, gender, LGBTQ+, race and ethnicity, and social mobility.”
The EDI strategy had an initial UK focus but considers the global nature of the IET and the engineering and technology community as well as our ambition to be a truly global organisation by 2030.
EDI runs throughout our strategy to 2030.
Why?
Engineering and technology are for everyone.
It is not only morally right to ensure that everyone has equal opportunity to be involved and succeed but to improve our world and shape our future, to advance excellence and solve complex global challenges we need to include a diversity of talent and knowledge. Furthermore, in the UK we face a nationwide skills shortage threatening our industry, to address this we must support equal opportunity for all and be a truly inclusive community.
Who
Key audiences of our EDI strategy include IET:
- members
- volunteers
- colleagues
- organisations
- and the wider engineering and technology community
This includes:
Definitions
Equality
Ensuring individuals are viewed and treated equally, often understood in terms of the protected characteristics of the UK Equality Act 2010 (see below), at the IET we encompass all diversity within this definition.
Diversity
Anything that can make us different from others. This includes but is not limited to age, disability, gender, race and socio-economic status.
Inclusion
Ensuring everyone feels that they belong and can participate.
Equality Act 2010
In the UK* the concept of equality is primarily centred on complying with the UK Equality Act 2010. The Act makes it unlawful to discriminate, harass or victimise someone because they have or are perceived to have a ‘protected characteristic’ or are associated with someone who has a protected characteristic. All people in the UK are protected by this legislation.
*this strategy considers the global nature of the IET and the engineering and technology community as well as our ambition of a truly global organisation by 2030.
Protected characteristics
The protected characteristics set out in the UK* Equality Act 2010 include age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage, or in employment only, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation.
*this strategy considers diversity beyond the protected characteristics in the UK’s Equality Act 2010.
Current areas of focus
Through our EDI work we reflect the values of the IET:
We treat everyone with Integrity and respect, continually striving for Excellence in all our activities and use the power of Teamwork to deliver value.
An overarching area for improvement is diversity data collection and monitoring - understanding data is key to improving diversity. We must collect, collate, and analyse appropriate diversity data to ensure an evidence-driven approach to our work. We will continue to further develop trust in the self-reporting of diversity data so that we can learn as much as possible from our data and take appropriate actions where needed.
Currently, we are focusing on the areas below, we believe this provides us with an opportunity to create the greatest impact. As our knowledge base grows this strategy will be reviewed and adapted accordingly, it may then focus on diversity characteristics such as, but not limited to, age and religion.
We need to understand and acknowledge the intersectional nature of diversity. People do not fit into neat categories and many of us are affected by many different aspects of EDI.
Disability
Disabled people are underrepresented in STEM. Disabled engineers make up 11.1% of the workforce in comparison to 14.8% of those in non-engineering occupations (Engineering UK, 2020).
The UN defines disabled people are ‘those who have long-term physical, mental, intellectual or sensory impairments which in interaction with various barriers may hinder their full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others’.
At the IET we embrace the social model of disability which states that disability is not an individual characteristic inherent to a person, but instead a societal construct arising from the interaction of a person and the inaccessible environment and discrimination they encounter.
As an institution, we must ensure our processes, activities and events are accessible and inclusive of all disabled engineers and technologists. We have an opportunity to showcase disabled talent across our discipline.
As an employer we must ensure inclusive access, retention and progression of all disabled staff.
Globally we must understand more about disability, embrace our differences and work to provide accessible environments for everyone to be included and achieve their potential.
This diagram shows our current area of focus within disability:
Gender
Promoting gender diversity within the engineering and technology profession is key to broadening the talent pool and engaging with a large proportion of the population.
We know that women make up only 16.5% of all UK engineers and 17% of all first degree entrants in all engineering and technology subjects (Engineering UK, 2022 and 2021) despite making up 51% of the population (UK 2011 census). In our 2021 IET member survey 5.3% of respondents identified as female.
As an Institution, embracing gender diversity enhances collaboration and brings about the diversity of thought which leads to the innovation and creativity required for us to engineer a better world.
As an employer, we must harness and utilise all talents and ensure all staff can be their best and achieve their potential.
We must understand the global context of gender diversity and the ways in which improved gender diversity is achieved across the world.
The diagram shows our current areas of focus within gender:
LGBTQ+
A survey we conducted in 2019 showed that over a quarter of respondents (29%) who identified as belonging to the LGBTQ+ community, would never consider a career in the engineering profession for fear of discrimination.
As one of the largest and most influential professional engineering institutions (PEIs) in the world; we have a responsibility and opportunity to inspire, inform, influence, and promote engineering to everyone and ensure that no one fears discrimination within our community and everyone can bring their whole selves to work. We encourage all engineering organisations and other PEIs to do the same.
As an employer, we must demonstrate that everyone has equal opportunity to succeed, and that workplace discrimination, exclusion, and barriers to career progression will not be tolerated.
On a global basis, we must not rely on generalised assumptions of acceptance or intolerance but model our IET behaviours, welcoming everyone to our community, whilst accepting cultural differences across the world.
The diagram shows our current area of focus within LGBTQ+:
Race and ethnicity
We stand together against all forms of racism and we expect our members, volunteers, and colleagues to do the same.
We know that 9.9% of those working in engineering occupations across all industries were from minority ethnic backgrounds, compared to 12.2% of those in non-engineering occupations and this is despite 27% of engineering degree qualifiers being from minority ethnic backgrounds in 2018/19 (Engineering UK, 2020). According to the IET’s 2021 Skills and Demand in Industry report, only 30% of organisations take action to attract racial minority groups into their workforce.
Promoting racial diversity within the engineering and technology profession will broaden the talent pool and ensure that we solve complex problems for all of society.
As an employer, we must ensure all our colleagues have the opportunity to succeed and feel a sense of belonging within our organisation.
We must improve our understanding of race and ethnicity data collection and monitoring on a global basis as well as cultural difference on an international scale.
The diagram shows our current area of focus within race and ethnicity:
Social mobility
21% of those working in engineering come from lower socio-economic backgrounds, in comparison to 29% of those in the wider workforce (Labour Force Survey, 2017). There is a greater disparity in progression to more senior roles for those from different socio-economic backgrounds (Bridging the Gap, 2022).
We have a responsibility and opportunity to engage with people from all socio-economic backgrounds across everything we do.
From a workforce perspective, it is important to recognise that traditional workplace structures don’t necessarily take into account the circumstances and experiences of individuals who come from a lower socio-economic background.
From a global perspective, we must seek to learn more about social mobility, the value of careers in engineering and technology and the progression they bring to societies and individuals.
The diagram shows our current area of focus within social mobility:
Partnerships
Our work can be even more powerful when done in collaboration with others. By maintaining key partnerships, identifying new partners, and sharing good practice we will extend the reach and influence of our EDI work. By working with others and driving the development of cross-sector standards, we can begin to embed longer-term improvements.
Measuring success
Measuring success is key to knowing whether we are achieving our central aim of inspiring, informing, and influencing all members, volunteers, colleagues, organisations, and the wider engineering and technology community, especially within our current focus areas of gender, race, and ethnicity, social mobility, LGBTQ+, and disability.
A range of measures will enable us to monitor our success:
- capturing and monitoring diversity data across our membership, volunteers, colleagues and activities
- maintaining and improving diverse talent attraction and retention across the Institution
- engagement with a broad and diverse group of engineers and technologists measured through diversity data monitoring
- engagement with our content that promotes diverse talent and inclusivity through media tracking
- engagement and satisfaction levels of IET members and volunteers measured through feedback surveys
- engagement and satisfaction levels of IET staff measured through surveys
- evidence of improved career progression and or retainment of underrepresented groups through surveys, feedback forms, focus group data
- growth of effective partnerships measured through stakeholder mapping, communication statistics, and outputs
- external recognition and award for our successful and exemplary EDI practices
- improvement in all areas of the Royal Academy of Engineering and Science Council Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Progression Framework Tool
To read some of our recent achievements take a look at our EDI year in review 2021
To understand how we will continue to deliver our strategy take a look at our EDI action plan.
EDI Committee
Our EDI staff committee supports, monitors and advises on the development and delivery of our EDI Strategy. The committee supports us to realise our full potential to advance EDI within our workplaces; within the activities, processes and services that we deliver; and within the wider engineering and technology sector.
Networks
We have a range of networks that bring together individuals who may share characteristics, along with allies who wish to further enhance their awareness and offer support. The networks aim to create a safe space for everybody to contribute to and offer recommendations for specific topics. This activity benefits both colleagues and members as conversations often extend to IET processes.
To keep up to date on key IET EDI activity, see our web pages
Get in touch
Email us at inclusion@theiet.org