An Engine for Change - A Chronicle of the Engineering Council

Annex IThe Viewpoints of Council, Senate and Staff MembersWhen this Chronicle was first mooted, a questionnaire inviting opinions and experiences wassent to present and past Council/Senate members and to EngC staff.There were many responses and a number of interviews subsequently took place. Some ofthe views expressed have already been quoted in the main text but, in addition, here is aselection of representative opinions under the four headings in the original questionnaire.1. How and why did you become involved ?2. What were your aims on joining the EngC – and how far were these realised inpractice ?3. How do you rate the EngC’s relationship with other bodies ?4. Any comments on the ‘Fairclough’ initiative ?1. How and why did you become involved?I became involved in the Council because I was increasingly concerned that the professionsaw itself as entirely composed of white, male Chartered Engineers. I wanted to raise theprofile of women and Incorporated Engineers, and to promote a more inclusive approach atall levels of the profession. These aims have been realised to some extent, as IncorporatedEngineers are recognised as an important resource for industry and the profession, but thereremains in my view, a perception that Incorporated Engineers are “failed” CharteredEngineers, a perspective which is in my opinion fundamentally flawed. The same is to someextent true of women; there appears to be a view that attracting women into engineering is nolonger important - but whereas women comprise 51% of new lawyers, they only comprise13% of new engineers.Barbara Stevens IEngCouncil MemberI was actively involved in the various consultations and discussions that took place beforeand after the Finniston Committee Report in 1980. I felt at the time that we were trying to dotoo much too quickly. I welcomed, however, the proposal to move towards the licensing ofengineers in specific areas of activity. I believe the Engineering Council has had a mostdifficult task in coming to terms with the main engineering Institutions but is now showingsigns of realising a more productive relationship - it takes time!In 1987/88 I expressed the need for the Engineering Council to promote and encourage therestructuring of the Engineering Institutions to become a less fragmented structure under 5main groups. At the time, as President of the ICE, I was in discussion with 3 other Institutionsregarding possible merger but they did not proceed - an opportunity was lost!Sir William FrancisCouncil Member225