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UK has one of the lowest percentages of female engineering professionals in Europe, representing only 24% of the total UK STEM workforce. The logistics show that women in technical roles have increased from merely 15.7% in 2009 to 16.4% in 2019. The engineering profession is perceived as male-oriented, thereby discouraging women's interest in this sector. Now with the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, the future of various industries and the growing skills gap is becoming a matter of high concern. To secure the future of the engineering sector following the pandemic, there is now more than ever a critical urgency to look at skills shortages, especially the underrepresentation of females. The main objective of this paper is to therefore discuss how gender inclusivity can be facilitated so as to inspire, attract and retain people from diverse backgrounds. Using semi-structured interviews with a sample of female engineers and academics in the UK, this paper explores their views and perspectives on engineering as a career choice, the gender imbalance in the engineering sector, and how to address some of the gender-based stereotypical misconceptions about engineering as a profession. It explores some of the root causes of the "leaky pipeline" leading to gender disparity in STEM and in engineering in particular. It also looks at the future of STEM and engineering post-Covid and questions how the experience and changes will impact young students' interest in some of these fields. The successful contribution and impact of a sector like engineering in today's environment relies on talent and interdisciplinary collaboration which is why gender inclusivity is very crucial. This paper makes an important contribution towards the discussion of gender inclusivity and equality in engineering something which is being actively pursued by organizations such as the Royal Academy of Engineering (RAE) in the UK. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The number of women holding management positions in engineering professions in Germany is very low. Gender stereotypes, male-dominated networks and hierarchical organizational structures make it difficult for women engineers to find access to higher management. Companies in engineering are therefore characterized by the division of their structures into male and female and are strongly 'gendered organizations' (Acker, 1990). In this paper, Schein's career anchor model (1975) is used to explore the career goals and interests that lead women engineers to strive for leadership positions. As the match between career orientation and work environment helps to reach positive career outcomes, organizational structures can enable, but also limit women to pursuetheir career goals. This leads to the following research questions: (1) what are the career orientations of women leaders in engineering and (2) how do the women's interests correspond to their work environment? For this purpose twelve qualitative expert interviews with women engineers in management positions in Germany were conducted. The content analysis of the interviews reveals that the women embody a combination of different career orientations. Hereby, the hierarchical career advancement is not the only goal for the women. They are more concerned with the desire for responsibility and participation, search for challenge, and compatibility of career and family. A highly intrinsic work motivation goes hand in hand with a subjective striving for career success, which finally leads to the attainment of leadership positions. While mechanical engineers are influenced by the organizational structures of their companies they work for, architects benefit from the flexibility of their self-employment. With regard to a gendersensitive organizational management these insights can be used to adapt women's individual needs to organizational structures and to make leadership positions in engineering more attractive for women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The process of technology innovation can be approached with a perspective that combines strategic business planning and engineering acumen. Technology innovation is the process by which technological ideas are generated, developed, and transformed into new business products, processes, and services by an entrepreneurial enterprise. This innovation is thus used to make profit, establish marketplace presence, and be a competitive advantage for the innovating enterprise. Being able to select the "right industry", that is, to identify the dimensions of an industry that is "more favorable" for new technology firms than other industries, is a challenge that must be planned strategically from the initiation of a business idea. Being able to identify potential opportunities from changes in environmental, social, regulatory, and technological factors is also important. Taking advantage of technological transitions is considered a strategic issue faced by innovating entrepreneurs. This paper presents the issues faced by twenty technology-based ventures created by engineering students-turned-entrepreneurs with backgrounds from various engineering disciplines. The innovation process is discussed in regards to how these students-entrepreneurs use knowledge about new ventures, innovation, and strategic positioning. Namely, Foster's technological s-curve is correlated with Ansoff's product-market matrix to categorize technology-based entrepreneurial opportunities. The dimensions of an industry, i.e. whether new products are introduced into an existing market or an existing product is launched to reach a new market, indicate the type of viable environments in which disruptive technologies can succeed. In addition, the paper discusses the role that current trends have in positively affecting technology transitions, as disruptive technologies are usually identified only after the effects of these trends on its particular industry are experienced. Thus, a dualperspective approach of applying both engineering design and strategic management is used. Finally, the effect that the limited-market environment of Newfoundland and Labrador (NL) in Canada has on these twenty technology-based ventures in terms of a product-market view of strategy and a resource-based strategy is discussed. The difficulty in assessing the potential success of technological opportunities early in their life makes it even more imperative for entrepreneurial engineers to apply an integrative approach to knowledge management and business strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]