8 in 100: women on Singapore's PE register, and why returners matter

In July 2024 the Professional Engineers Board presented a breakdown of its register by sex. It counted 340 women and 3,891 men, so women were 8.0% of all registered Professional Engineers. Among PEs from Singapore the figure was 268 of 3,441 (7.8%); among those from Malaysia it was 63 of 728 (8.7%).

From 22% of students to 8% of PEs

Women are not absent from engineering school. Ministry of Education data cited by the Society of Women Engineers shows women at about 22% of engineering admissions between 2016 and 2019. An NTU study reported a 3:1 male-to-female ratio among engineering and IT graduates, and found women at 30% of research scientists and engineers. Somewhere between graduation and the PE stamp, the share drops by almost two-thirds.

Part of the drop is the length of the route. The PEB's own outline (July 2024) has four stages:

1. The Fundamentals of Engineering Examination, in two parts. Part 1 is 40 multiple-choice questions on core subjects; Part 2 requires answers to 5 of 7 questions for the mechanical and electrical branches.
2. At least 2.5 years of practical experience before sitting the next exam.
3. The Practice of Professional Engineering Examination: a common paper and a branch paper of more than four hours.
4. A professional interview of 45 to 60 minutes.

For many engineers these years overlap with having young children.

The mother's equation

The Ministry of Manpower's Labour Force in Singapore 2025 report sets out the trade-off clearly:

• Women's labour-force participation at ages 25 to 64 has risen from 74.1% to 80.5% over the decade, against 91.8% for men.
• 61.5% of women aged 25 to 64 who were outside the labour force were not working or looking for work because of family responsibilities.
• Married women with children are more likely to work part-time, and people outside the labour force who might rejoin it tend to prefer part-time work.
• Yet Singapore's female part-time employment rate is 5.9%, against an OECD average of 13.7%, which ranks it 32nd.

So the women most likely to return to engineering want flexible arrangements, and flexible arrangements are scarce in Singapore. MOM points to programmes such as Workforce Singapore's herCareer initiative, NTUC's Women Supporting Women mentorship programme and the C U Back at Work programme. The data also suggests employers and peers have a part to play.

A small estimate, clearly labelled

The PEB does not publish a gender split by branch. If the 8% applied evenly, the 561 practising mechanical PEs would include about 45 women. Treat that as an illustration, not a statistic. Either way, it is a small group.

One returner

Er. Jessica Yip is a mother of two sons. She stepped back from practice and chose to come back. She was registered as a PE (Mechanical) on 26 January 2023, in the largest single-year mechanical cohort still practising. Her stated ambition is a modest one: to contribute, in a small way, as part of the ecosystem. In our experience she already has. She has given clients free advice that led them to a compliant route that didn't require engaging her.

What the rest of us can do

• Offer scoped, flexible work. PE review is often well-defined, so it suits flexible arrangements.
• Credit returners publicly. Referrals and visibility rebuild a practice faster than advertising.
• Make the profession visible to students. A woman engineer explaining a sprinkler layout to a client is a stronger recruitment message than any brochure.