Women offer food manufacturing different perspective

Women shared their experiences of working in food and drink manufacturing in a bid to encourage more females to enter the “male-dominated”​ sector as part of National Women in Engineering Day (June 23).

Currently the UK has the lowest percentage of female engineering professionals in Europe, at less than 10%, according to the Women’s Engineering Society.

The Food and Drink Federation (FDF), PepsiCo, United Biscuits and Nestlé were just a number of the businesses supporting the cause.

It was a shame that women were underrepresented in engineering as a result of misconceptions, said United Biscuits’ process engineer Naidene Samuel.

‘Different perspective’​

“We can often offer a different perspective than our male counterparts and workplaces thrive when there is a good representation of both genders,” ​she said.

“People need to overcome ​any preconceived notions about working as an engineer. It is not a ‘man’s job’ and the majority of the gender barriers that existed in the past are quickly disappearing.”​

It was, however, the job of women to communicate the “huge array”​ of exciting roles within the industry and overcome gender stereotyping that deterred women entering the sector, PepsiCo’s site lead and engineer Tracey Foster claimed.

“​Hosting events like these brings to life what is involved in being an engineer, breaking down any misperceptions there might be out there,” ​she said.

“As an industry we want to attract the best talent, both female and male, to help us drive the food and drink industry into the future. To do that it’s important to break down any barriers.”​

PepsiCo has managed to change the once male-dominated culture in the supply chain area of its business through its coaching programme – Strategies for Success, she claimed.

“In 2009 there were no females in supply chain leadership, and I am proud to say that now 50% of our manufacturing sites are led by female engineers,” ​she added.

Earlier this year, PepsiCo was awarded the Business in the Community ‘Advancing Women’ award for its ‘Strategies for Success' programme.

‘Excellence role models’ ​

The Women’s Engineering Society praised PepsiCo for creating “excellent role models”.​

The society’s president Dawn Bonfield said: “It is only by working together with industry to showcase these exciting roles that we begin to change perceptions and inspire girls to think differently about these exciting career opportunities.”​

The FDF said science and engineering skills were required to improve manufacturing processes and retain competitiveness.

Angela Coleshill, director of competitiveness at the FDF, said: “In September 2014 we launched the first Food Engineering Master’s degree at Sheffield Hallam University and it would be fantastic if we could raise the 15% average of female UK undergraduate engineering admissions as compared with 85% of male admissions.”​

The food manufacturing sector employs 400,000 people across a number of jobs, according to the FDF. By 2020, more than 170,000 new recruits – many of which will be engineers, food technicians, scientists and roles requiring science, technology, engineering and mathematics skills – are required to fill the void left by those set to retire.