'Cyber sexism' hits female engineers: Women being put off roles in the profession by stereotypes portraying it as a job for the boys 

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Girls are being put off a career in engineering by stereotypes portraying it as a job for boys, warn campaigners.

They found that only one in four images referring to the profession on 70 websites used by young people featured women.

EngineeringUK said 'stereotypical' pictures like hard hats fail to portray the range of available careers. 

Girls are being put off a career in engineering by stereotypes portraying it as a job for boys, warn campaigners (stock image above)

Paul Jackson, chief executive of the body promoting the profession, said: 'If a picture is worth a thousand words, it is extremely worrying that cyber sexism is rife when it comes to the depiction of engineers on websites used by young people.

'Engineers shape the world we live in and are behind many of the amazing everyday things we take for granted. Engineering isn't just about men in hard hats.

'In the next decade employers will need 1.82 million people with engineering skills, meaning we need to double the number of apprentices and graduates entering the industry.

'We cannot afford to lose would-be engineers by carelessly reinforcing stereotypes and not showing the full scope of exciting careers available.'

They found that only one in four images referring to the profession on 70 websites used by young people featured women (stock image above)

He added that 1.82million workers with engineering skills will be needed in the next decade. This means the number of apprentices and graduates entering the industry needs to double. 

The report was published to mark Tomorrow's Engineers Week, aimed at promoting the profession to young people.