§ Dr. StarkeyTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many(a) male and (b) female engineers there are in the United Kingdom; and how many in each case are qualified as (i) chartered engineer, (ii) incorporated engineer and (iii) engineering technician. [47511]
§ Mrs. LiddellThe information requested falls within the responsibility of the Chief Executive of the Office for National Statistics. I have asked him to reply.
Letter from Tim Holt to Dr. Phyllis Starkey, dated 30 June 1998:
As Director of the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I have been asked to reply to your parliamentary question about engineers by professional status and gender.The Labour Force Survey (LFS) is the ONS's major up to date source of data on numbers of people in various occupations. The Standard Occupational Classification is used in the LFS and respondents are assigned to categories largely on the basis of the job title and a description of the job provided by the respondent. There is no specific separate question asking for membership (or grade of membership) of professional bodies. Consequently, the LFS cannot be used to provide estimates which are consistent with the qualification categories which you have specified.The attached table shows estimates of the numbers of men and women in the Engineers and Technologists minor group of the Professional Occupations major group and in the Engineering technician and Building and Civil Engineering technician unit groups which are classified under the Associate Professional & Technical Occupations major group.
Employment in engineering professional and technical occupations United Kingdom, winter 1997–98, not seasonally adjusted 000s All Men Women Engineers and technologists1 580 554 26 Engineering/Civil engineering etc. technicians2 58 56 3— Total 638 609 29 1 Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) minor group 21 2 SOC Unit Groups 301 and 304 3Sample size too small for reliable estimate Source:
ONS, Labour Force Survey