Scotland needs to catch up with most of Europe in training female engineers or its firms will be left behind, the industry’s institute has said.

Launching National Women in Engineering Day, the Institute of Civil Engineers Scotland said there were still too few women in the profession.

Scotland needs an extra 440 new civil engineers this year to meet its needs, yet further education engineering students are down by a third since 2010, and seven out of eight ICE members are men.

Sara Thiam, director of ICE Scotland, said: “Scotland lags behind much of Europe in terms of a gender-balanced workforce. Employers who ignore the benefits of attracting more women into the profession risk becoming increasingly marginalised.”

Three out of ten civil engineers in the UK are over 50, yet university graduates are down nine per cent over the five years to 2014.

The UK has the lowest percentage of female engineering professionals in Europe, at less than ten per cent, and only 16per cent of students on engineering courses, compared with 30per cent in India.

Getting more women into the UK labour market could be worth up to £23billion, two per cent of GDP, with STEM (science technology maths and engineering) accounting for at least £2bn, according to a recent Royal Society of Edinburgh report.

Almost half of young women do not even consider careers in STEM sectors. Belinda Oldfield, a Scottish Water executive, said: “It is quite shocking that less than seven per cent of parents with girls would recommend engineering as a good career route for girls.

“In the UK we ask children to make subject decisions too young at around 14, whereas in the US they don’t have to make many of those decisions until they are in their twenties.”