Learn about the types of people who become mechanical engineers. This page goes into detail about the employment, gender, and ethnic ratios of the workplace.
Employment Type Mix, 2025
93% of mechanical engineers work in full-time roles while 7% work part-time.
Gender Mix By Career Interest, 2025
This graph shows the distribution of females and males that are interested in becoming a mechanical engineer. Four or five star ratings on CareerExplorer indicate interest.
More men than women are interested in becoming mechanical engineers at a ratio of 5.22 to 1.
Actual Gender Mix, 2025
16% of mechanical engineers are female and 84% are male.
Gender Bias, 2025
This is one of the most compelling statistics we collect. Gender bias shows the difference between gender interest in being a mechanical engineer and the actual gender mix of people in the career.
If there is a significant difference, then it means there is a gender imbalance between those interested in becoming a mechanical engineer and those who end up becoming one.
Ethnic Mix, 2019
The largest ethnic group of mechanical engineers are White, making up 41% of the population. The next highest segments are South Asian and Other, making up 28% and 9% respectively.