Engineers Geoscientists Manitoba launches a gender-focused 2030 Coalition
December 11, 2018
By
CCE
Organizations including Manitoba Hydro, Hatch, AECOM, and the University of Manitoba are participating in the Manitoba 2030 Coalition (coordinated by Engineers Geoscientists Manitoba) to address gendered barriers to recruitment, retention and equity in the profession.
This past Spring, Engineers Geoscientists Manitoba, the professional regulator in the province, launched its Dear 2030 marketing campaign to over 134,000 middle and high school students of Manitoba.
The campaign consisted of creating petitions with thousands of signatures and sending custom boxes which included a video from students and gender equity awareness materials to some of the province’s largest employers of engineers. The campaign was asking these companies what they will do to ensure that 30% of newly licensed engineers will be women by 2030, a goal set by the national 30 by 30 initiative led by Engineers Canada .
Some employers responded to the petitions, including Manitoba Hydro, Hatch, AECOM, and the University of Manitoba, and the campaign has resulted in the creation of the Manitoba 2030 Coalition (coordinated by Engineers Geoscientists Manitoba). A launch event for the Manitoba 2030 Coalition was held at the Manitoba Legislature on November 13, 2018 and included a public panel discussion featuring coalition representatives as well as Rochelle Squires, Manitoba’s Minister responsible for the Status of Women. Moving forward the group will work together to address gendered barriers to recruitment, retention and equity to the profession.
According to Engineers Geoscientists Manitoba, in 2017, just over 21% of newly licensed engineers were women, a number that has fluctuated above and below 20% from year to year. Overall in Manitoba, less than 10% of engineers are women, and less than 20% of the applicants to the faculty of engineering at the University of Manitoba are women.
