PHOTO: UKRC/WISE

WOMEN IN STEMDecember 2013

INSPIRING THE NEXT GENERATION OF LEADERS IN SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY,

ENGINEERING AND MATHSWinner of the UKRC Girl Award, 13-year-old Saheefa Ishaq is inspiring other girls to

take an interest in science, and has huge aspirations for her own future

WIDER IMPACTS The business and economic

implications of gender imbalance in STEM

CLIMBING THE LADDERAttracting and retaining

top talent in STEM

A spotlight on

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The proportion of women in en-gineering has remained static since 2008: only seven per cent of engineers

are female. The lack of women in engineering is a very signifi -cant problem, contributing to skills shortages which damage the economy. The shocking real-ity is that the UK is only utilis-ing half the potential workforce in this vital sector.

It also means that women are missing out on interesting and rewarding career opportunities. STEM industries must be proactive

in encouraging more women in-to the sectors. There are some good examples of companies who show creative ways of reaching out to women with their job ad-verts and fl exible working pat-terns, and the results have been very positive. There are excellent young women who need to be convinced by industry that they can have a rewarding career in the STEM sectors.

The IET annual Skills Survey shows that engineering employers often struggle to recruit high qual-ity engineers, so reaching out to the massively under-represented female workforce is a simple way to start addressing this challenge.

The challenge may be great, but with an emphasis on raising awareness, recognising talent and promoting key ambassadors in these fields, it will be possible to dispel this stigma and provide inspiration to females for years to come.

At the IET we will continue to work towards the end goal, and encourage others to play their role. In particular, we will insist that the gender imbalance in en-gineering remains high on the government’s agenda.

www.equalapproach.com

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Re-balancing the STEM talent pool

Less than 1 in 5 people in science, technol-ogy and engineering jobs in the UK are fe-male. This isn’t good for British industry, it isn’t good for the

economy and it isn’t good for wom-en or their families.

WISE wants to see the proportion of women increase to 1 in 3 by the year 2020. Organisations and individuals who share our vision for industrial growth boosted by the richness of a diverse talent pool are joining WISE to make this happen. We work with our members to attract more female talent into the industry, keep the fe-male talent we have and improve our track record on women’s progression to positions of power and infl uence.

An equal number of males and

females study science at universi-ty, but women are concentrated in medical and veterinary science. Of those who do choose to study engi-neering or technology, only half go on to work in engineering or tech-nology, compared to two thirds of men. The gender divide in vocation-al pathways is shocking – only 400 females started an engineering ap-prenticeship in 2012 compared to 12,880 males.

A great way to change percep-tions is to show girls and their fam-ilies the fantastic opportunities to make a positive diff erence through science and engineering. The 2013 WISE Awards showcased women who have made breakthroughs in early detection of cancer, treatment of mental illness, greener construc-tion and safer transport. Awards for media, corporate leadership and di-versity demonstrate how organisa-tions can make a diff erence.

WISE Chair, Trudy Norris-Grey said: “These women and girls bring vision, creativity, commitment and — above all — a passion for what they do, which is truly inspiring. Britain needs more like them to bring their talents into UK industry. Then we will get the real re-balancing of the economy which the country needs.”

Helen Wollaston, WISE

CHALLENGES

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EDITOR’S PICK

WOMEN IN STEM 1ST EDITION, DECEMBER 2013

Managing Director: Carl SoderblomEditorial and Production Manager:

Faye GodfreyBusiness Developer: Sara Downes

Responsible for this issueProject Manager: Rosalynn Kino

Phone: +44 (0) 77 9502 2632E-mail: rosalynn.kino@mediaplanet.com

Contributors:UKRC

IETWomen’s Engineering Society

National Apprenticeships ServiceChi OnwurahJo Swinson

Helen WollastonLinda Deleay

Mediaplanet contact information: Phone: +44 (0) 203 642 0737

E-mail: info.uk@mediaplanet.com

#WomenInSTEM

Linda Deleay, Institution of

Engineering and Technology (IET)

Jo Swinson and Chi Onwurah discuss equality

in the workplace

An Open Letter on Women in STEMLike many others, I have enjoyed a rewarding, exciting and challenging career, beyond anything I could have imagined growing up, thanks

in no small part to my parents, teachers and others’ encouragement to continue my studies in Science, Technology, Engineering and

Mathematics, otherwise known as STEM. First as an engineer, then a consultant and now a Chief Executive, the STEM skills I gained

throughout school, university and into work, have been invaluable – not just specialist knowledge about particular subjects, but more broadly

in terms of problem-solving, creativity and making things happen.

This is why I believe it is so important we work together to encourage more young women to understand the possibilities, excitement and

opportunities that pursuing STEM studies, and moving into STEM careers, through apprenticeships or graduate routes, can bring. Not only is

this important for UK PLC, but vital for the individuals involved; STEM provides young people with the skills employers want, as well as those

they need to live in an increasingly complex world, no matter what path they choose.

So how do we do this? For me, too much of the ‘women in STEM’ debate is characterised by negative messages; the ‘barriers’ that women will

encounter, the ‘difficulties’ the ‘problems’ and the ‘issues’. Thankfully no-one told me too much of this before becoming an engineer. In fact, it

was someone telling me that law would be difficult that put me on the engineering path in the first place, and I am grateful to them to this day!

Instead, let’s acknowledge the issues and then encourage more young women to consider a future in STEM by sharing many positive, exciting

and inspirational stories of women working in STEM roles; the apprentices, scientists and engineers working on some of the biggest challenges

the world faces today, alongside technology entrepreneurs. This is what the Atkins report, ‘Britain’s got talented female engineers’, and the

Wise awards are doing so well by showcasing exciting young female STEM professionals from a variety of backgrounds, with them talking

about what they love about their roles, I would definitely recommend reading more!

From my own experience, and that of many others, women have so much to offer and gain from all areas of STEM. Along with the ability to

simply be great STEM employees or employers, women often bring fresh perspectives, a different approach and a real determination to

tackle global challenges that will impact us all, like food, energy and data security, and climate change. In return, what they get are

meaningful, rewarding careers that allow them to use their problem-solving abilities and creativity. I always laugh when someone tells

me engineering isn’t creative – what could be more creative than ensuring the future of the planet and quality of life for us all?

And let’s not forget the huge part our teachers, headteachers, lecturers and others working with young women have to play. 90% of the female

engineers involved in the ‘Britain’s got talented female engineers’ report said that an inspirational science or mathematics teacher was a key

factor in their education choices and career. At the same time, only around a quarter said that engineering was highlighted to them through

careers advice. Just think what we could accomplish by doubling these figures, let alone more? That is why at Myscience, we are working with

many others, nationally and internationally through Project ENTHUSE, the network of Science Learning Centres and the National STEM

Centre. Our white paper, ‘The future of STEM education’ (www.slcs.ac.uk/go/nat/future-of-stem), sets out what we believe needs to happen to

ensure all young people get the STEM education they deserve.

As Alice McGregor an Atkins engineer featured in their report says, the beauty of engineering is “the ability to work on a variety of different

projects, helping to change the world. You can see what you have done and put your name to it” - I couldn’t put it better myself.

Yvonne BakerChief Executive, MyscienceManaging the network of Science Learning Centres, National STEM Centre and other programmes supporting and promoting STEM

FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT:Project ENTHUSE: www.slcs.ac.uk/go/nat/enthuse

Network of Science Learning Centres: www.slcs.ac.ukNational STEM Centre: www.nationalstemcentre.org.uk

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What we need to do now is identify the action that is required and…well, get on with it. From our perspective this action falls into two categories – the short-term fi x, and the longer-term solution.

The short-term fi xes are necessary to make the best of the situation we currently have, and these fi xes are required in schools, higher and fur-ther education, and the working en-vironment (in terms of cultures, pay equality, career breaks and board po-sitions). These are necessary because women are still in such a minority, and the problems exist as a result of this factor alone.

The longer-term solution involves fi nding a way to fl ood the pipeline with the next generation of female engineers, and once this happens and we get a critical mass of women in the engineering workplace, the shorter-term fi xes will no longer be necessary, and the signifi cant benefi ts of true di-versity will materialise.

More women neededThe maritime and oil and gas indus-tries are examples of sectors which fare worse than the engineer-ing average in terms of recruiting

women engineers, where a stag-gering 67 per cent of respondents to a recent survey of key indus-try stakeholders (by Matchtech and IMarEst) confi rmed that their workforce is currently made up of less than fi ve per cent of females, and for 36 per cent of organisations, this was less than one per cent.

Whilst it is encouraging that 42 per cent of organisations respond-ed that there have been some posi-tive improvements in diversity, 54 per cent of respondents reported no change at all. Despite a number of incentives and initiatives to in-crease female engineers over recent years, it would appear that organi-sations within this industry are not reaping the benefi ts. If this trend continues, the opportunity of bridg-ing the skills gap by encouraging more women in to the industry will be negligible, so real benefi ts could be achieved by a targeted campaign in these particular sectors where there is so much to gain.

Working togetherCompanies need to forge real and sustained links with their local schools, and this will help to ensure

that they get the skills they need, the applicants for the Apprenticeships or graduate jobs that they have on off er, and that they have access to a way of persuading the parents as well as the students that a career in engineering is a great choice.

At the other end of the spectrum, getting more women into senior managerial positions - not just as role models but also as instigators of change - is another area of work that needs some disruptive action. Boards should take seriously the need to en-sure diversity at this level. Increas-ingly this is being demonstrated as not just a “nice thing to have” but a business imperative, and companies need to ensure that they fi nd ways to retain their senior women after ca-reer breaks, and ensure that they ac-tively promote them.

The Perkins Report calls for in-novative solutions to these prob-lems, and at WES we have lots of ideas for the short-term fi x and the longer-term solutions, so if you are serious about taking action, now is the time to do it.

TAKING STEPS FOR A BRIGHTER FUTURE

WOMEN’S ENGINEERING SOCIETY

info.uk@mediaplanet.com

Finally! The engineering world has woken up to the fact that diversity in engineering is something that is missing, needed, and urgent. This has been a long time coming,

but we are starting to have more confidence that we now have the momentum to make the significant progress that is required, through action.

NEWS

Hannah Stanbury, winner of the UKRC Apprentice Award

Hannah, one of only two female ap-prentices in training at the Minis-try of Defence establishment De-fence Munitions Gosport, achieved star distinction in Level 3 BTEC Na-tional Diploma in Mechanical Engi-neering - and is now studying for the Higher National Certifi cate. “Hannah is by far the hardest working and most determined student we have,” says Ap-prentice Training Offi cer Kevin Hay-dock. Hannah led a mostly male team in the Brathay Apprentice Challenge and became poster girl for the local college prospectus, to encourage other young people to choose engineering.

Making waves in STEM Meet some of the inspirational, award-winning women and girls making a difference in science, engineering, technology and maths

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Against the backdrop of an ageing workforce and an increasing demand for higher skills in the UK, the importance of Apprenticeships in STEM industries has never been greater.

Apprenticeships deliver work for young people and adults, giving ap-prentices the chance to earn while they learn in a real job, gaining a real qualifi cation and a real future. An in-creasing number of companies are of-fering Apprenticeships because they can help businesses grow by devel-oping a motivated, skilled and highly qualifi ed workforce.

Nearly every employer that takes on an apprentice reports benefi ts to their business, and research shows that the average Apprenticeship completer in-creases business productivity by £214 per week, with these gains including increased profi ts.

Apprenticeships are available at Intermediate, Advanced and Higher (degree and masters) levels. Higher Apprenticeships were introduced to provide the advanced skills most crit-ical for the sector and career develop-ment. They now include Higher Ap-prenticeships in Advanced Manufac-turing Engineering, IT, Life Sciences and Environmental Technologies.

Apprenticeships are available in 170 industries and over 1,500 job roles,

and in 2011/12 over half a million peo-ple started an Apprenticeship. This in-cluded 59,480 Apprenticeship starts in Engineering and Manufacturing Technologies.

If a business employs up to 1,000 employees and hasn’t recruited an ap-prentice in the last year, they may be eligible for a £1,500 grant to help cover the cost of starting a new apprentice aged 16 to 24 years old.

Last month saw the UK’s most tal-ented apprentices, employees and learners from a host of industries come together to compete at The Skills Show, held at the NEC in Birmingham.

More than 700 battled it out in 70 WorldSkills UK competitions. STEM industries were well represented, with apprentices competing in com-petitions ranging from Aeronautical Engineering, Forensic Science and Mobile Robotics to be named the Best In The UK in their chosen skill.

Visitors to the event not only got to see apprentices in action, but also had the chance to have a go at a wide varie-ty of work-based skills, receive impar-tial advice from careers professionals and speak to a range of employers, col-leges and training providers. Events like The Skills Show are a great way to inspire and engage more young peo-ple in careers in STEM industries.

Apprentices fi lling the skills gap

NATIONAL APPRENTICESHIP SERVICE

info.uk@mediaplanet.com

L’Oréal UK & Ireland Fellowships For Women in Science

2014 Applications Open 1st February 2014

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION AND TO APPLY VISIT WWW.WOMENINSCIENCE.CO.UK

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE UK NATIONAL COMMISSION FOR UNESCO AND THE IRISH NATIONAL COMMISSION FOR UNESCO, WITH THE SUPPORT OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY Visit brightrecruits.com today

The international jobs site for physics and engineering

Working with industry employers such as:

Jo Carris, winner of the UKRC Excellence Award, Useful Simple Projects

Jo is a Senior Sustainability Consultant, driven by a desire to address some of the big challenges we face due to waste, pollution, energy and use of raw materials. She helped to improve recycling rates at the Olympic Park, worked on a carbon footprint strategy for the Brazilian World Cup and a sustainability strategy for the Rio Olympics. If she wins the award, Jo will use cash to pay for a workshop on sustain-ability careers for talented girls taking STEM subjects at AS Level, which she plans to organise in her own time. “Sustainable design and construction crosses science, technology, engineering and mathe-matics,” she says, “but it is not a profession that school students or careers advisors know much about.”

Saheefa Ishaq, winner of the UKRC Girl Award

At the age of 13 - the youngest candidate on our shortlist - Sa-heefa has already spoken eloquently to local media and school governors about her hopes, aspirations and passion for science. Saheefa’s contribution to a prize-winning science project took her to the International Science and Engineering Fair in Phoe-nix, Arizona. The infectious enthusiasm in her online account of the trip has inspired others girls. “She is a great advocate for STEM in her peer group and was a brilliant representative for the UK,” says Jo Cox, Head of Science at Redmoor Academy.

Professor Pratibha Gai, 2013 L’Oréal-UNESCO for Women in Science Laureate for Europe, Professor and Chair of Electron Microscopy, University of York Professor Gai was awarded this prestigious prize for ingeniously modi-fying her electron microscope so that she was able to observe chemical reactions occurring at surface atoms of catalysts, which will help scien-tists in the development of new medicines or new energy sources.

Finding ways to see what cannot be seen with the naked eye consti-tutes some of the most ground-breaking achievements in the annals of science. From 16th-century optical microscopes to 21st-century elec-tron microscopes, advances in our ability to view previously invisible processes of nature have opened up fl oodgates of new knowledge.

Professor Gai is among the relatively few scientists in history who can lay claim to such a key advancement. Thanks to her truly ingenious modifi cations to electron microscopes, her work enables us to actually see chemical processes that were once completely mysterious.

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A lot is being done to tackle women’s under-representation in science and technology careers, but Equalities Minister Jo Swinson says the problem remains deep-rooted.

Women make up 46 per cent of the to-tal workforce, but the figure is just 15.5 per cent in STEM careers. The lowest represen-tation is in the engineering sector where only 8 per cent are females. Swinson says the problems start in the school system, and cites the “terrifying” statistic that more than 50 per cent of state schools have no girls taking physics A-level.

“There are a lot of programmes to help solve the problem, but they only go so far because it’s deeply engrained,” she said. “It’s about culture and how we encour-age girls to be interested in things from an early age. Retailers still put science sets in the boys section for Christmas as if girls couldn’t possibly want them. Magazine ads routinely illustrate science toys with pictures of little boys. It’s lazy imagery and we need to challenge these stereotypes.”

National institutions, including the Roy-al Academy of Engineering and the Royal Society, now have diversity programmes.

STEMnet ambassadors – 40 per cent of whom are women - speak to pupils about exciting science careers. The Inspiring The Future initiative also sends female role models into schools.

“There’s been a huge upturn in numbers signing up to give talks in schools. Nick Clegg’s wife, Miriam González Durántez, is promoting it. Providing role models for girls is vital and there’s more we can do around that,” said Swinson.

A further essential element in tackling the problem is to ensure that state school pupils get good careers advice. “They need to have minds opened to a range of possibil-ities, but also need to know that dropping a science now could have a huge impact on later career choices. We are working with the National Careers Service to improve how guidance is delivered.”

Outdated images of engineering must also be challenged as they discourage fe-males. “The media has an important role in challenging the perception. How often do we see engineering conjured up with an im-age of a dirty factory and men in overalls?” said Swinson. “The reality is different. We had the Tomorrow’s Engineers launch re-cently at Facebook’s London HQ. There were young men and women engineers speaking about exciting careers working on apps and smartphones in a glamorous industry.”

During the 20 years Labour MP Chi Onwu-rah spent working as an electrical engineer, women made huge progress in law, medicine and many other professions. But female par-ticipation in electrical engineering stayed the same as two decades earlier. “That depressed me when I left engineering for politics. We can’t wait another quarter of a century for changes in engineering,” she said.

Onwurah says many girls make subcon-scious assumptions about engineering which bear little relation to reality. “The best decision I ever made was to become an en-gineer. My career was fantastic. I worked in very well-paid jobs — better than MPs —and travelled a great deal, to Paris, London, Washington DC and Lagos. I was involved in brilliant projects that helped thousands of people,” she said.

Onwurah agrees with academic research suggesting that women are drawn to profes-sions which allow them to help people. Med-icine – such a popular choice for women - is a prime example. But engineers are not rou-tinely given credit for the massive impact they have on lives, she says. “In fact, engi-neers save more lives than doctors. Civil

engineers bring water, roads and bridges, which delivers hope and transforms com-munities. Clean water saves more lives than anything else in the world,” she said.

Onwurah helped to build the first GSM network for mobile phones in Nigeria, which transformed the country’s commu-nication abilities. “Before the project, only 1 per cent of homes had telephone capabil-ity and fixed-line access. Now, 50 per cent of the country has access to a mobile phone. As an engineer, it is so fulfilling when you see people using something that you built. You move on to another job, but your work lives on forever.”

Onwurah also insists that engineering can be a more flexible career than many women realise. “I knew quite a few women consultants who only needed to work two or three days a week on projects, then they had time with their families,” she said.

She acknowledges, however, that some firms could do more to help women return to engineering after career breaks. “I tell com-panies that lots of women lose confidence about coming back as they think technology has moved on. But if they are trained in en-gineering fundamentals, up-skilling them is not such a challenge. Companies need to of-fer that training to attract them back.”

DAVID SMITH

info.uk@mediaplanet.com

■ Question: What kind of career

did Labour MP Chi Onwurah have

as an electrical engineer?

■ Answer: She travelled the

world building transformative

infrastructure which had a huge

impact on people’s lives.

INSPIRATION

‘The media has an important role in challenging the

perception’

DAVID SMITH

info.uk@mediaplanet.com

■ Question: What can be done to

tackle the low female participation in

science careers?

■ Answer: Role models can

challenge outdated stereotypes of

women and overturn preconceptions

about science.

Chi Onwurah MP FOR NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE AND

FORMER ELECTRICAL ENGINEER

‘I was involved in brilliant projects that helped thousands of people’

Jo Swinson EQUALITIES MINISTER

DECEMBER 2013 · 7A SUPPLEMENT BY MEDIAPLANET DISTRIBUTED WITHIN THE INDEPENDENT

Greet Brosens is the Managing Director of Sagent Solutions, a consultancy that works with companies who want to attract and retain more female engineers. She shares her insights on the challenges that women engineers face in the workplace.

■ Why is it important that engineering becomes more gender balanced?GB: Engineering in the UK is

a male dominated profession.

On average, only 7 per cent

of the engineering workforce

is female. Not enough young

women choose engineering as a

career and, those who do, tend

to leave the profession in greater

numbers than their male peers,

resulting in a loss of talent for

companies. The UK is struggling

to produce enough engineers

needed to fill the skills gap. If

we continue to alienate half the

population, it will be harder to

attract enough engineers.

■ Why do women leave engineering?GB: It is difficult to pinpoint one

single cause. In many cases,

there is still unconscious bias

against women in technical roles.

People perceive engineering

to be a “man’s job”, and as a

consequence of that cultural

attitude women are sometimes

treated as an anomaly. They are

not part of the in-group at work,

and that can result in a strong

sense of not belonging. We

often see this in our coaching

work with women. They laugh it

away initially, but after a while it

affects their energy, motivation

and performance at work. It

then becomes easier to leave

engineering and change careers.

■ How can you address this retention issue?GB: It is difficult to change

engrained cultural stereotypes

overnight, especially as they

are often unconscious. We give

workshops to the engineering

workforce, helping them to

understand what unconscious

bias is and what measures they

can take to address it. But that

is just the starting point. We

work with female engineers,

often on a one on one basis

or in small groups. We explain

stereotypical thinking to them, and

how this can have a real impact

on their motivation and work.

Research has shown that a clear

understanding of this external

threat to your performance

can actually positively improve

your work. Group coaching

and individual coaching can

consequently really help to improve

retention and performance.

E: info@sagent-solutions.com

W: www.sagent-solutions.com

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