Yes, girls can do engineering...

Year 13 students at Auckland University's Enginuity Day. Photo / Richard Robinson

More female engineers are needed to design better futures, the University of Auckland told 240 Year 13 pupils at a girls-only Enginuity Day yesterday.

To encourage more women to choose engineering as a career, the engineering faculty hosted a day-long programme for female physics and calculus students from 38 secondary schools.

It included activities and addresses from female speakers from engineering backgrounds.

The faculty's equity adviser for women in engineering, Robyn MacLeod, said it hoped to achieve a 50/50 split in student gender. Females now account for 22 per cent of the 500 people who begin engineering degrees each year.

Ms MacLeod said it was important to have women engineers so females' needs were considered when designing systems.

"Unless you have men and woman designing, you won't necessarily have products that work for the whole society.

"You don't want just men to be designing for men and women."

For example, early voice synthesisers could not detect women's voices because of their naturally high pitch, she said.

Ms MacLeod hoped parents would encourage their daughters to consider a career in engineering. "Parents don't realise it is such a fantastic career for girls. [They] don't necessarily encourage girls to be engineers."

University communications adviser Danelle Clayton said the day's second aim was to combat stereotypes surrounding the engineering degree.

Engineering did not necessarily mean building bridges, she said.

The bachelor of engineering degree also includes biomedical engineering, computer systems and software design.

The Institution of Professional Engineers says there is only one woman to every 10 males in its membership.