No matter how many initiatives we start to attract more women, the issue will always be that the norm is typically male and thus not interesting for women. The perception and the images of the industry is for and by men.To be successful we need to change that norm.

Therefore we created “Update the image”, a free to use image bank featuring female engineers in less stereotypical environments. By providing pictures of female engineers and encourage anyone to use it we could piggy-back on everyone else’s communication with our purpose. Instead of just creating our own communication, we suddenly changed the ways schools, newspapers and the Swedish Public Employment Service were communicating about the profession. In other words, we are changing the norm, by updating the image.

The innovation is an innovative solution to a problem with norms and representations. When communicating about technology on a daily basis, it is easy to keep reproducing stereotypes since that is the material at your disposal. By creating an image bank that is free to use with other types of pictures, we have made it even easier to use our pictures. The service provides the tools everyone needs to create a new norm and to make more women feel included in the world of technology.

The platform is a traditional image bank and the service is up and running.

The image bank is just the starting point and the long-term goal is for it to be used by as many as possible. The image bank is a tool that “updates the image” of a stereotypically male dominated industry bit by bit, every time it is used. We’re not only updating the image of what the industry looks like but also who is technical.

The ambition to attract more people to the engineering industry is not just a question of making it more gender inclusive, it’s an absolute necessity if we want to be able to solve the problem of recruiting 100.000 new engineers in 2030. The Tech and engineering industry simply can’t afford to exclude 50% of the population anymore. Launching an image bank will not solve everything, but it is starting point to a discussion that hopefully will only grow stronger.

The lack of female role models is a problem for the entire engineering industry. Instead of creating a role model campaign, we produced a free to use image bank where everyone who is communicating about technology could find images of female engineers to use. This way, we managed to hack all communications made around the profession, instead of trying to communicate louder than everyone else. With this service, we have begun the job of changing a male norm around technological professions. A very innovative solution to the big problem in the entire industry.

Received brief, September 2017.

Production of photographs - November and December 2017

Production of website - September to December 2017

Website live - 27 of February 2018

Teknikföretagen (The Association of Swedish Engineering Industries) is an employers’ organization, and a force for innovation. They are present throughout Sweden and assist 3,900 engineering companies in labor law and industry issues.

Until 2030 Sweden needs to educate 100,000 more engineers to be able to cover the needs of working force. At the same time, only 30 % of the students enrolled in the engineering programs are female. In order to succeed with the 2030 goal, The Association of Swedish Engineering Industries is working hard to create gender equality in the tech industry.

Our brief was to create an activation that would attract more women to the industry.

No matter how many initiatives we start to attract more women, the issue will always be that the norm is typically male. Therefore, our campaign aims to change the norm.

For budget see confidential information.