Key findings from Women at the wheel

Women at the wheel: An introduction

Women make up about half of the labor force. Women in the automotive industry, however, comprise only a quarter of the auto manufacturing workforce. They continue to represent an underutilized resource for automotive companies looking to gain a competitive advantage. For the past several years, Deloitte and Automotive News have been working together to shine a light on gender issues in the global automotive industry while illuminating the way forward for women in automotive and those who champion them.

This year, we have broadened the scope of the program to include survey responses from hundreds of industry professionals (both women and men), with an aim to explore their views on inclusion and diversity in the automotive industry.

We hope that you take the time to download and explore the 2020 survey and that it serves to inform a robust dialogue around the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion for automotive businesses going forward.

The need for change
There is a large discrepancy between genders on whether attitudes toward women have improved in the last five years—and far fewer women feel this way over the past three studies.

About the study

The study was conducted by Deloitte and Automotive News in an effort to explore views on diversity, equity, and inclusion among men and women in the automotive industry. The intent of the study is to better understand where opportunities for improvement may exist when it comes to bridging the gender gap and creating greater diversity in the automotive industry.

Automotive News subscribers responded to the online survey, representing a wide variety of automotive companies, including OEMs, suppliers, dealers, and captive finance companies. The methodology was designed to generate a broad point of view for how companies can better champion women in automotive and effectively promote diversity, equity, and inclusion in their workplaces.