Women push engineering as a job that isn't just for the boys

Think of engineering and you may imagine a masculine world of hard hats, construction sites and big machinery. But a local university and an NGO are coming together in a drive to make the subject a more attractive option for women.

The University of Science and Technology is working with the Women's Foundation on initiatives to encourage women to take their place among the professionals putting together the smartphones, software and technology networks of the future.

The drive includes an online auction, launched yesterday, of art by Susan Yuen Su-min, a computer scientist by training and head of ANZ bank's Hong Kong operation.

Just 12 per cent of HKUST's computer science, computer engineering and electronics undergraduates are women, down from 14 per cent in 2000.

"Law and medicine have managed to reach gender parity, but in my three decades of teaching we've seen no change," said Lau Kei-may, chair professor at HKUST's department of electronic and computer engineering. Lau, a founding member of the university's Women Faculty Association, says one problem is the perception of engineering as a job that is not creative.

"Look at the dresses from the 2005 Oscars and 2014 Oscars - do you see much difference? Look at a phone from 2005 and one from 2014," said Lau. "That's a real difference. That's real creativity."