Win the War for Female Engineering Talents : Using Consumer Branding Theory to Propose Employer Branding Strategies

Abstract: In Europe, females remain underrepresented in engineering and technology industries and even fewer women progress into leadership positions. Changing global conditions have created competitive employment markets and given rise to the so-called ‘War for Talents’. Implications are that female engineers command over considerable bargaining power when it comes to choosing employers. As a response to such circumstances, ABB Europe will introduce a Trainee Program with a leadership focus for female engineering students in 2018. Triangulating qualitative and quantitative data, this paper will propose branding strategies for the ‘Female Trainee Program’ using consumer branding theory translated to an employer branding context. It shows that a concept for a Female Trainee Program is well accepted by both female and male engineers and engineering students. Results, therefore, suggest the promotion of specific program attributes along an instrumental-symbolic framework combined with gender-specific marketing programs. This has the potential to increase self-program congruency between female engineering graduates and the ‘Female Trainee Program’ and enables ABB Europe to take an active part in the war for female engineering talents.