These working women emojis are nominated for Design of the Year

A range of emojis depicting 'professional women' have been nominated for Design of the Year by the Design Museum in London.

The characters, designed by Google, which show women as doctors, mechanics and scientists are due to be released on android by the end of 2017.

Speaking about the emoticons, a spokesperson for the tech company said: "We believe this will better reflect the pivotal roles women play in the world.”

The emojis were developed last year in an effort to empower young women and highlight the diverse career paths available to them.

The update will also include engineers, coders, farmers and professors, which will all be available in various skin tones.

According to The Telegraph, experts at London's Design Museum selected the symbols alongside 62 other works from the areas or architecture, digital, fashion, graphics, product and transport.

An overall winner, as well as winners from each category, will be announced on January 25, 2018.

Google's self-driving car and the 2012 Olympic Torch are among the previous designs to scoop the top prize.