JAMES Brown sang that it's a man's world, and when you look at certain industries in Britain, the late Godfather of Soul seems to have hit the nail firmly on the head.

Official figures show measly numbers of women employed in sectors such as science, engineering, IT and trade.

But BT has recently launched a campaign to employ more females as telephone engineers after only eight per cent of applicants for their apprenticeship scheme were women.

Dave Walsh, head of BT apprenticeships, says it is highly important for women to be represented in his company, which has a target of employing 25 per cent females in its new intake.

He says: "Traditionally apprentices and engineers are stereotyped towards men, but there is no reason why that should be the case.

"The more diverse our workforce is, the more likely we are to represent our customers' needs. We work in diverse communities, and we should have a workforce that matches that as closely as possible.

"BT customers, especially women, often prefer a female engineer, and women can do the job just as well as men."

From the moment we are born, we are always put into categories - little boys are generally dressed in blue, while little girls wear pink.

Paul Abbot, director and general manager of Bolton Technical Innovation Centre, said: "I think think there are so few women in science and engineering jobs because they don't have a really good experience of these subjects when they're at school.

"There's lots of reasons for that, but I think that's where the problem is.

"I think they should be involved in appropriate projects that they find stimulating. There's a great deal of science and technology involved, for example, in tackling the great environemntal and climate challenges that we face now.

"In the past people have had this perception that science and engineering is really to do with hurting animals or building big, heavy machines - but that's a misconception.

"I think it's relatively easy for organisations, including Governments, to set targets, but actually achieving them is a different matter. We need, certainly within the education system, to preserve the wonder of science and the joy of learning.

"What we need to do is inspire our young people. I think science has become a bit too dull in school. We need more magic.

"We risk losing the next generation of scientists and engineers if we don't try to tackle the problem."

Terry Marsh, director of Wise (Women Into Science, Engineering and Construction), says our choices in career can be traced right back to these early years.

"From early on we say to girls they're different - you have different expectations, different things you can do and not do. We try to butch up the boys, and tell the girls they want to be fairies.

"When girls get to their teenage years they're particularly vulnerable to pressure from peers, teachers, parents and the media.

"If all of them don't agree that it's all right for you to do subjects like physics and then go on to be an engineer, you're in a bit of turmoil.

"Then you've got the vested interests of schools, who want to do well in league tables to encourage pupils to do easier' subjects.

"Boys are shying away from physics too, but the numbers of girls doing it has dropped more steeply.

"If girls do stick it out and go on to university to do something like engineering, they can experience a rough time there too.

"Not at every university by any means, but we have heard from women who have had male lecturers say things like, Who's got a T-square, oh, it's been touched by a woman but it should be all right!' It is so antiquated.

"Engineering and other male-dominated industries are taking longer to catch up with sectors like the media, which does have women right at the top - the director of television at the BBC is a woman.

"But one lady who works in IT did tell me that one advantage for her is that when she goes to conferences, there is never a queue for the ladies' toilets!"

Facts of Science

The latest employment statistics from the Office of National Statistics show huge gender gaps in certain industries and jobs.

  • There are 420,000 male engineering professionals, but only 23,000 females
  • 365,000 men work in the information and communication technology industry with 59,000 women
  • 195,000 men are employed as motor mechanics. Less than 10,000 women do the same jobs
  • The electrical trades sector is made up of 411,000 blokes and less then 10,000 women
  • 851,000 men work in the construction trades, doing jobs such as bricklaying, plumbing and carpentry. Less than 10,000 ladies work in the industry
  • When it comes to telecommunication engineers, such as those BT is trying to recruit, 49,000 are male, and less than 10,000 are female.