It's feared harassment and discrimination are driving female engineers out of the industry as demand for their skills reaches an all-time high.
Half of all female engineers who took part in a recent survey had been discriminated against due to their gender, compared to 6.8 per cent of males.
More than 22 per cent of women had been sexually harassed at least once, which was almost 10 times the rate of men who reported the behaviour.
Some 1431 engineers took part in the Professionals Australia survey from May to June 2022, according to a report released on Wednesday.
About one in six engineers said they intended to leave the profession, with most citing a lack of career advancement and opportunity.
The organisation's chief executive Jill McCabe said the results were frustrating considering there had been an effort to encourage more women into the profession in the past few decades.
"We're losing vital skills because our workplaces are not actually accommodating the needs of women workers," Ms McCabe told AAP.
More than a quarter of women and one in eight men said they had been discriminated against due to their age.
Some 12 per cent of women and six per cent of men had been discriminated against due to race.
Demand for engineers nationally is at an all-time high and the report noted the skills shortage and rising inflation meant salaries were likely to increase in the future.
Ms McCabe said Australia was on track to experience an engineering "crisis" and while more overseas workers were needed, there also had to be a greater emphasis on retaining women.
"Any female who comes into any engineering job in Australia has to have a different experience to one that many are having at the moment," she said.
"Whilst migration might help to address some of that skills gap, we actually have to address the growth and sustainability of our workforce."
Engineers Australia chief executive Romilly Madew said 14 per cent of working engineers were women.
She called on employers to step up and do more to retain women, such as supporting flexible work, encouraging more women into leadership roles and implementing strong policies against harassment and discrimination.
"Women do not typically leave because of the work itself," Ms Madew said.
"They leave because of the workplace - the sexism and cultural issues that limit their opportunities and adversely impact their daily working experience."
Almost 88 per cent of those who took part were male, almost 12 per cent were female and 0.5 per cent chose not to say.
Engineers working in education and training worked the most, clocking up 52.7 hours a week.
They were more likely to report mental health concerns due to stress, workload and long hours than colleagues working in private and public sectors.
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