LAST week, Dyson held a special event to mark International Women in Engineering Day at their headquarters in Malmesbury.

Female pupils from nearby schools were invited to meet, work and learn from female engineers who were there to help inspire more girls to consider careers in engineering.

It is excellent to see companies such as Dyson going out of their way to recruit and enthuse more women to consider careers in the engineering field.

Diversity is one of humanity’s greatest strengths and more women, and indeed all minorities, should be encouraged to pursue careers in which people of their background are under-represented.

This goes for many more professions than just engineering of course; from politics to journalism, all places of work are strengthened by having a more diverse workforce.

Although positive discrimination is a controversial issue, we must do more to help under-represented groups.