Women are making progress in the workplace and increasingly taking on senior positions, but significant inequalities remain across the UK, particularly in industries traditionally dominated by men.

The most recent figures show that women continue to be under-represented in engineering, transport and technical occupations, while differences in working patterns and pay remain barriers to achieving greater equality.

In the UK, around 72.4% of women aged 16 and over were in employment between October and December 2025, compared with 77.6% of men. However, women are considerably more likely to work part-time, with around 37% of employed women doing so, compared with 14% of men.

Pay differences also remain. Office for National Statistics figures for April 2025 showed that the gender pay gap among full-time employees across the UK was 6.9%, meaning women earned less per hour on average than men. The gap was particularly pronounced in skilled trades, where it stood at 13.9%.

The picture is particularly noticeable in industries such as transport and engineering, where women remain a small proportion of the workforce despite growing efforts to encourage more female applicants.

In Wales, women account for just 20% of the Transport and Communications workforce, falling to only 6.7% among transport and mobile machinery drivers and operators, according to research by Transport for Wales.

The issue was discussed earlier this month when the Deputy Minister for Transport, Mark Hooper, met Marie Daly, Chief Operating Officer at Transport for Wales and Chair of Women in Rail, to hear about efforts to recruit and retain more women across the industry.

There are signs of progress. The number of female train drivers at Transport for Wales increased from 54 to 76 between 2022 and 2023, raising women's representation among drivers from 7.4% to 9.3%.

Over the same period, the proportion of women among new Transport for Wales apprentices increased from 14.3% to 42.9%.

One example of that changing picture is Chloe Thomas, who joined Transport for Wales more than 11 years ago as a maintenance apprentice. She was the first female apprentice to work at the company's Canton depot in Cardiff.

After completing her apprenticeship and gaining a first-class honours degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Chloe progressed from maintenance technician to fleet support engineer and is now an Assurance Engineer, primarily working with the Class 398 fleet.

Her career has included leading the trial of a new signalling system on the Heart of Wales Line and supporting the introduction of new trains across the network.

She was named Rail Engineer of the Year at the 2022 Rail Staff Awards and has since established the Women in Fleet group, which brings together female employees from across the sector.

The group now has more than 30 members and has helped secure improvements to facilities at Canton depot, with further work planned at Machynlleth. It has also worked with policy teams to review workplace policies.

Chloe said she had witnessed considerable cultural change during her time with the organisation, adding that the group was already making a positive difference for women working across the business.

Women are also increasingly reaching senior positions in the transport industry. Marie Daly is Chief Operating Officer at Transport for Wales and chairs Women in Rail, which works to improve diversity and career opportunities across the UK rail sector.

Other examples include Natalie Britton, Operations Director at Milford Haven Port Authority, and Sarah West, Managing Director of Stena Line UK and Ireland Ports, who previously became the first woman to command a major UK warship during her 20-year Royal Navy career.

Marie Daly said there had been genuine progress, but women still represented only a fifth of Wales's transport and communications workforce.

She said Transport for Wales and Women in Rail were committed to breaking down barriers, attracting diverse talent and ensuring women could see transport as a rewarding career offering long-term opportunities.

The Welsh Government helped establish the Women in Transport Wales Hub in 2022, providing a network for women already working in the industry while encouraging others to consider careers in the sector.

Transport for Wales is also working with trade unions on initiatives to increase female recruitment into train driving and engineering. These include recruitment events aimed at women, secondment opportunities and changes intended to make working environments more inclusive.

Deputy Minister Mark Hooper said he was pleased to hear about the progress being made to recruit and retain women in traditionally male-dominated jobs, but wanted to understand what more could be done.

He said inclusion, opportunity and cultural change needed to be an integral part of developing and improving transport across Wales.

The wider figures suggest that, while opportunities for women have expanded considerably, representation alone does not necessarily mean equality has been achieved. Women remain more likely to work part-time, are disproportionately represented in some lower-paid occupations and continue to face barriers entering certain technical and operational careers.

The latest Welsh Government earnings figures show that the full-time gender pay gap in Wales stood at 3.2% in April 2026, compared with 6.8% across the UK. However, when full-time and part-time employees are considered together, the difference increases to 8.2% in Wales and 12.3% across the UK.

The challenge for employers is therefore not simply to recruit more women, but to ensure they have equal opportunities to develop their careers, progress into senior positions and remain in industries where they have historically been under-represented.