Although it’s wrapping up, March is National Engineering Month in Canada. This is a great time to ask: Who is building the future of engineering in Canada, and who is still waiting for a seat at the table?
Increasingly, that future doesn’t just look like roads and buildings. It looks like regenerative medicine, advanced manufacturing and biomedical devices that blur the line between engineering and human health. That distinction matters.
The recent past
Over the past two decades, women have made measurable – and meaningful – gains in engineering. Undergraduate enrolment has climbed steadily, reaching just over 25 per cent nationally in 2023. In some disciplines – particularly biosystems, environmental and chemical engineering – women now represent a significant share, in some cases approaching or exceeding 40-50 per cent.
Notably, many of these gains are concentrated in fields that sit at the intersection of engineering and life sciences. Biomedical engineering, regenerative medicine, and biofabrication have emerged as areas where women are not only participating, but shaping the direction of research and innovation. From tissue engineering and 3D bioprinting to implantable devices and precision drug delivery, these fields are redefining what engineering looks like and who sees themselves in it.
In other words, the pipeline is no longer the problem it once was. But beyond graduation, the story becomes more complicated.
Despite increased participation at the entry level, women still make up only about 15 per cent of engineering professionals in Canada, according to a report from the Diversity Institute at Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU). The drop-off is real and persistent. In Ontario, for example, women represent roughly one in five engineering graduates, but are less likely than men to end up working in engineering roles at all, according to a report by Wendy Cukier for the Council of Canadian Academies (CCA) on the “State of equity, diversity, and inclusion within Canada’s science, technology and innovation ecosystem.”
This is the “leaky pipeline” we keep talking about. And it leaks at multiple points. There are the familiar factors: workplace culture, bias in hiring and promotion, and the disproportionate burden of unpaid care work. Many women still describe engineering environments as legacy systems that are slow to change, and often shaped by long-standing networks that are difficult to access from the outside, as per the TMU report above.
Not surprisingly, compensation is still an issue. By 2021, the gender pay gap for engineering graduates in Canada had widened significantly, with women earning roughly 75 per cent of what their male counterparts earn on average, says the CCA. That gap compounds over time, influencing everything from career mobility to leadership opportunities.
And leadership is where the gap becomes most visible.
Again from TMU, women hold only about 18 per cent of engineering management roles. In academia, the numbers are similar or worse at senior levels. Even in research-heavy fields like biomedical engineering, where participation is higher, women are less likely to occupy the most senior, decision-making positions or to be recognized as lead authors on major publications. That means representation is improving at the front end, but influence remains uneven.
The present and the future
Engineering is in the middle of a transformation. For example, advanced manufacturing is becoming more automated, data-driven and digitally integrated. Biomedical engineering is converging with artificial intelligence (AI) to enable everything from predictive diagnostics to personalized treatment design.
Jobs are changing and will continue to do so, but AI opens up opportunities for new ones, some that are obvious and some that we haven’t even imagined yet. When the Internet began reshaping the field of public relations, social media managers didn’t yet exist. The same will happen as a result of AI; fortunately, humans are resilient and we will adapt. Engineering jobs are not disappearing so much as evolving, especially at the entry level.
If fewer traditional entry-level roles exist, access to meaningful early-career experience becomes more competitive, which could amplify existing inequities. Those with stronger networks, better mentorship, or fewer systemic barriers will have an advantage. Without intentional intervention, the same gaps we see today in jobs, salaries, and leadership could widen.
On the bright side, fields like regenerative medicine and biomedical engineering are still being somewhat defined. Advanced manufacturing is being rebuilt around digital tools and new workflows. These are not legacy systems in the same way as traditional engineering disciplines and that offers a real opportunity to build them differently.
Ideally, we will see more inclusive hiring practices and transparent compensation structures – something that the Government of Ontario now requires. There’s also an opportunity to develop more accessible leadership pathways and mentorship can really help those at the early-career stage.
Getting women into engineering matters, but ensuring they stay, advance and lead is equally important.
Today’s engineering jobs are complex and solving them will require the full spectrum of talent (i.e. representation).
National Engineering Month is a moment to celebrate progress, but it’s also a moment to be honest about what remains unfinished. The question is not just what we are building but who gets to build it. As a mother of a daughter who is about to graduate with an engineering degree, that matters a lot.
Are you ready to celebrate engineers? Watch this stand-up comedy routine by engineer Don McMillan.
Stacey Johnson
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