23 July 2013
BANISH HARD HATS FROM ENGINEERING PROMOTION!
SMF Launches the Hard Hat Index
Images of engineers in hard hats create negative stereotypes and turn-off graduates that the engineering sector urgently needs to attract, claims Sainsbury Management Fellows (SMF), the charity that awards MBA bursaries to talented engineers.
The hard hat has become symbolic of engineers and SMF believes that this association is an example of how images detrimental to the perception of the role of engineers have far-reaching effects. This includes the ability to inspire, recruit and retain engineering graduates. SMF argues that the prevalent use of hard hats defines engineers inaccurately, undermining their role as creative problem-solvers who improve lives and shape tomorrow's world.
David Falzani, president of SMF said: "Our industry needs to guard against behaving like sheep, and avoid using the default image of hard hats, when the vast majority of engineers work in jobs that do not involve wearing a hard hat. HR directors ask us why engineers are always portrayed by pictures of people wearing hard hats because they, too, consider such images as a barrier to recruitment.
"Employers complain that they can't find people with the right training and skills, but they can't hope to attract and retain the brightest engineering graduates - people with expectations of working in an exciting job where they can make a difference in the world, gain job satisfaction, travel globally and earn a good salary - when they don't support the creation and maintenance of an accurate and suitable image," explained Falzani.
To encourage engineering companies and professional societies to re-consider how they portray the profession SMF:
Conducted media analysisof images of engineers in selected engineering magazines and national newspapers over 12-18 months to illustrate the pervasiveness of hard hats in adverts and editorial, and has created theHard Hat Index
During the monitoring period, 185 images of engineers wearing hard hats featured in 16 engineering titles (118 advertisements and 67 editorials) where more aspirational images could have been used to engage better with readers
940 hard hat images featured in national newspapers (88 adverts and 682 editorials)
SMF undertook aYouGov pollto test public perception of the image of engineering:
Image most associated with engineers?When YouGov asked over 2,000 people online throughout the UK what items (up to four) they thought engineers primarily wear on an average working day, the hard hat came top with 63% of the votes, whereas a business suit received 25% of votes.
Where do engineers work?Most people picture engineers working on building, industrial or manufacturing sites, yet the reality is that thousands of engineers work in office settings. Top with 69% of the votes was building and construction sites, followed by industrial sites (66% of votes), with offices coming fifth with 40% of the votes.
Exciting jobs?When asked to choose between a selection of features, attributes and skills associated with engineers, ‘having exciting jobs' pulled in just 19% of votes putting it in 9thplace out of 10. This suggests the industry is not managing nor selling the attractiveness of engineering careers to the public.
Finally SMF hosted focus group sessionswithengineering graduates who viewed images from engineering magazines and concluded that the majority were:
Old-fashioned or clichéd
Bland, dull, boring and uninspiring
Contained negative stereotyping including being too male orientated
"By 2020, UK firms will have 1.86 million jobs requiring engineering skills but the country produces only 46,000 engineering graduates each year. At this rate we will not meet the economy's demand for qualified engineers. The institutions and educational establishment are working to encourage more young people into engineering, but we are neglecting the impact of the visual identifiers used for engineers. Whether this neglect is due to a lack of awareness of the importance of this issue or sheer laziness, ‘brand engineering' needs a radical overhaul. We must better understand the importance of image to Generation Y and replace outmoded images with more accurate, dynamic and appealing ones. We also need to be better at declaring how emotional, exciting, and important engineering truly is.
"We need to take greater responsibility for the image of our profession. We cannot complain that insufficient numbers of young people are drawn to engineering while paying scant attention to the image we are giving them," concluded David.
Ends
For comment from David Falzani, President of SMF, contact
Althea Taylor-Salmon, Fortune PR, 01992 551 335 or email althea@fortunepr.co.uk.