Annex 1
BACKGROUND AND
RATIONALE TO
THE UK RESOURCE
CENTRE FOR
WOMEN IN
SET
1.1 Baroness Susan Greenfield's report SET
Fair (2002) to the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry
laid out women's perceptions and experiences and identified barriers
to progress in their education and career development in the Science,
Engineering and Technology (SET) sectors of employment.
1.2 The Government's resulting Strategy
for Women in Science, Engineering and Technology (2003) set
out to address the issues around the levers available to the Government:
— Government as an influencer of the
world of work through the employment of its own engineers and
scientists and with other employers as legislators and through
supporting change.
— Government as a funder of primary,
secondary, further and higher education.
— Government as a significant investor
in research and researchers.
1.3 The strategy recommended the creation
of a new resource centre with the aim of improving the participation
and position of women in SET with the following as its key objectives:
(1) To review and develop a recognition scheme
for "good" SET employers.
(2) To share good employment practice for
women in SET.
(3) To disseminate and share information.
(4) To set up and maintain a database of
expert women in SET.
(5) To maintain and disseminate UK gender
statistics.
(6) To raise the profile of women in SET.
(7) To pump prime innovation and disburse
travel bursaries.
(8) To support SET women returners.
(9) To coordinate the work of women in SET
organisations.
It is imperative that the resource centre should
be built on the developments that have already taken place to
create gender equality for women in SET.
1.4 In addition, the strategy gave some
responsibilities to OST:
— Working with the WEU to ensure that
Government Departments and their Agencies are good SET employers.
— Working with DfES on the gender implications
of Science in schools, careers advice and HE.
— Looking at all aspects of mainstream
science policy.
— Working with other parts of DTI to
ensure that the SET organisations we use have good management
practice for women.
1.5 An Independent Implementation Group
has been established to monitor the delivery of the strategy,
reporting to the Chief Scientific Advisor.
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