Civil engineering - Still a job for the boys?

Women are still significantly under-represented in the civil engineering profession in Britain. For example, only 13% of home university applicants in 2003 were women. Based on focus-group interviews and a quantitative survey of school students, this paper reviews the image of engineering in UK schools and outlines the factors which cause girls (and some boys) to reject engineering as a career. It suggests a number of strategies that might help to attract more women to the profession. It also suggests the profession may not be able to achieve a gender balance by itself, since part of the problem is society's gender stereotyping of school subjects and careers.