Memorandum 46
Submission from the UKRC for Women in
Science, Engineering and Technology
1. SUMMARY
1. The UKRC for Women in SET is concerned
about the detrimental impact the change in institutional funding
for ELQ's may have on women returning and reskilling for SET.
2. The UKRC points out that such changes
could undermine the government's strategy for women in SET.
3. The UKRC would prefer a full review of
funding and fees to take account of the impacts on women, on reskilling
and on STEM issues. Failing that, we argue that all kinds of courses
designed to enable returners back into the workforce, particularly
those associated with STEM related employment should be exempted
from the new ELQ rules. These are recommendations for the committee
to consider.
4. The UKRC in partnership with the OU has
established a very successful course designed to assist women's
return to SET and offered in conjunction with a comprehensive
package of support services for returners to SET.
5. Five case studies illustrate the way
this course and the package of services have been effective.
2. ABOUT THE
UKRC
Established in 2004 to support the Government's
10-year strategy for Science and Innovation, the UKRC works to
improve the participation and position of women in SET across
industry, academia and public services in the UK. Funded by the
DIUS, it provides advice and consultancy on gender equality to
employers in industry and academia, professional institutes, education
and Research Councils. The UKRC also helps women entering into
and progressing within SET careers, through advice and support
at all career stages, training, mentoring and networking opportunities.
3. UKRC'S CONCERNS
ABOUT THE
WITHDRAWAL OF
INSTITUTIONAL FUNDING
FOR ELQ STUDENTS
The UK Resource Centre for Women in Science,
Engineering and Technology (UKRC) wishes to alert the committee
to its concerns about the Government decision to withdraw funding
for ELQ students, with particular reference to women returning
to science, engineering and technology (SET—also known as
STEM).
We believe that the decision will:
— Be detrimental to returners (often
women) in general and returners to SET in particular.
— Deter people (mostly women) who have
had a career break (often for caring reasons) or have followed
unconventional career paths, from undertaking reskilling activities.
— Disproportionately impact on women
as part time learners, and students of second/ELQ degrees for
economic and social reasons. This is because women as a group
earn less (as evidenced by the gender pay gap—and therefore
are less likely to be able to afford to fund their learning) or
have less access to financial support, for variety of reasons.
— Undermine programmes and courses
including those specifically for returners, which focus on current
employability.
— Undermine the supply of people with
current employability through the use of their (updated) qualifications
in strategically important subjects like STEM, widely defined.
— Ignore the circumstances of potential
learners who are at a distance from the current (SET related)
labour market, or may be working in other sectors. They are often
in part-time jobs that do not utilise their technical qualifications.
As such, employer support for their reskilling is not a realistic
option.
— Work against government strategy
and funding in relation to women in SET.
Recommendation
We would prefer a broader review of funding
and fees that takes full account of the impacts on women, on reskilling
and STEM issues. But, if this policy is to go ahead, as we have
argued in our letter to the Minister, Bill Rammell MP we would
like to see courses of all kinds for returners, including those
in STEM widely defined, clearly exempt from the ELQ decision.
4. BACKGROUND
UKRC's RETURN Programme is fulfilling a key
government priority in relation to its strategy for women in science,
engineering and technology. Returners are identified as a critical
target group, in terms of maximising human potential, meeting
economic and skills needs and avoiding the waste of earlier investment
in their training and education.
By definition, this target group are at a
distance from the current labour market, or may be working
in other sectors. They are often in part-time jobs that do not
utilise their technical qualifications. As such, employer support
for their reskilling is not a realistic option. While we are
doing all we can to persuade their target employers of the value
of investing in their skills and potential, this is not easily
achieved. In any case, an initial short programme with ELQ status
is a vital catalyst to bring women to the level at which they
can approach employers with confidence and credibility.
It will be counter-productive if these learners—Returners
to SET—are to be deterred or excluded from returning to
work in SET due to the prohibitive costs of part-time study.
We recognise also that this concern applies
widely and significantly to many other adult learners wishing
to change careers and enhance their skills. However, women part-time
learners are likely to be most severely affected by this decision,
should it be implemented. This is because of their labour market
position and pay levels, and their reduced likelihood of employer
support for reskilling and broader career development.
5. THE UKRC OPEN
UNIVERSITY PARTNERSHIP
The UKRC works in partnership with the OU to
create opportunities for women returners with previous levels
of Science, Engineering and Technology (SET) qualification who
now wish to return to their SET career path. They have most frequently
spent time away from their SET career due to childcare, eldercare
or other domestic responsibilities.
The OU runs the T160/1 course as part of our
RETURN programme, which has been funded by DIUS and the European
Social Fund. The course offers a supportive environment to help
returners realise their ambitions. Through a series of online
activities including interactive lectures and discussions, they
analyse their previous experience; identify opportunities; and
develop a realistic and powerful action plan to enable them to
find a job that will fulfil their aspirations and suit their lifestyle.
As well as developing their skills and confidence, the course
includes the chance to meet potential employers, role models,
and mentors in the world of SET.
Over the past two years, T160 has proved extremely
successful in reaching and engaging these women who have extensive
skills and experience, but who need to develop up to date employability
skills, confidence, industry knowledge and contacts in order to
re-engage. We have seen significant levels of participation in
the programme—over 700 women—and equally significant
levels of success in outcomes, with more than 50% either back
in SET employment, or actively engaged in further training, or
taking steps towards SET work.
The decision to withdraw institutional funding
from T160/1 and similar courses designed to bring women back into
a critical sector, the strategically important knowledge economy,
will severely undermine our work and government supported targets
for returners to SET.
5. CASE STUDIES
We illustrate the role and the effectiveness
of the T160 course which is a part of a package of UKRC services
through five case studies which are all to be found on the UKRC
website along with others about women in SET: www.ukrc4setwomen.org
Case Study 1—From research science to public
policy on science
With assistance from the Open University T160
course for women looking to return to work in science, engineering
and technology, research scientist Hilary Leevers used a career
break to redirect her vocation from academic research towards
a campaigning position influencing public policy on science.
With a degree from Cambridge University and
doctorate from Oxford, Hilary was a well-established scientist
with extensive experience in neuroscience research, child development
and disabilities. On a six year career break to have her three
children, she undertook minimal work as a Developmental Research
Consultant, but Hilary's longer term career goal was to return
to a position that was commensurate with her extensive experience
and skills, but critically, on a part time basis.
Participating in the T160 was to prove a turning
point in her quest to find a position to suit both her abilities
and her desired work/life balance. She explains:
"Without a doubt the T160 course made me
create time to work out what sort of job I wanted, it made me
review my skills and put together a much more impressive CV".
Having concluded that returning to research
might not be her first choice, Hilary started to cast her net
for other career opportunities. With her CV focused and targeted,
and interview skills up to scratch, Hilary's thorough preparation
gave her the impetus to go for her goal when she saw the position
advertised for Assistant Director/Research Officer for the Campaign
for Science & Engineering (CaSE), a parliamentary pressure
organisation promoting the cause of science and engineering.
"No way would I have got this job or been
in a position to get it without the things that were covered on
T160. It gave me the confidence to promote myself appropriately
in a covering letter, without which I wouldn't have got the interview.
I did a lot of guided interview preparation, practised out loud
until I was fluent talking about work matters. I just wouldn't
have achieved the level of confidence that I needed".
Despite not having a policy background, Hilary
was successful not just in communicating how her skills could
transfer to a new arena of parliamentary campaigning, but in securing
her employment at the strategic Assistant Director level at CaSE,
and most importantly on a part time basis. She urges:
"I went through the website, persuaded myself
that I could do the job, that all the doubts were in my mind.
Your skills and how you fit are much more important than how many
hours you can work.
"I am so pleased that I tried for a job
at this level part time. CaSE were pleased to be able to appoint
at my level in a part time position. These jobs are out there!"
Case Study 2—Returning to engineering
Launching a career in engineering only became
a tangible possibility for Andrea Davies when she embarked upon
the Open University T160 course for women looking to return to
work in science, engineering and technology.
Despite graduating in 1998 with a Masters in
Mechanical Engineering, Andrea had not progressed her engineering
career, having been deterred by a number of negative interview
experiences.
Instead she opted for a position in the IT Department
at Estee Lauder Companies Ltd, based in Fareham, providing helpdesk
support services across the company's UK and European operations.
After a number of years, however, she had become keen to explore
other career options with a view to making a return to engineering:
"I wanted a change of career, to make use
of the engineering knowledge and skills I have, which prompted
me to do the T160 course".
With its practical and relevant challenges,
the course proved to be an important motivator for Andrea to make
the changes she sought:
"From writing a CV, to advice on interview
technique and how to find a job to suit your particular skills,
it has brought everything together. I needed to kick myself into
doing it, but it gave me targets, research to complete, it made
me focus . . ."
As part of RETURN services, Andrea was also
provided with a mentor who helped her identify project engineering
as an area that would satisfy her organisational aptitude, whilst
making full use of her engineering knowledge and skills. Fortified
with this target, Andrea had a new impetus to begin to make her
career transition.
"Following the mentoring I applied for and
was successful in getting a job in the area of software testing
here at Estee Lauder. The new job is a definite step in the right
direction, a way to develop my skills so that I can better equip
myself to return to engineering.
"I'm also looking at distance learning in
order to bring my degree up to date".
Andrea asserts that her experiences of the various
RETURN services provided her with a clearer insight into what
she wanted to do, and equipped her with the tools and self assurance
to begin to realise her ambitions. She found the UKRC'sNetwork
Back to SET work workshop very helpful, and plans to join a mentoring
circle. She concludes:
"It really made me think about what I'm
like as a person, and what I should emphasise. Without this input
I wouldn't have had the confidence to apply for the job I've just
got".
Case Study 3—Returning to engineering
After a career break to have children, Jackie
Roberts undertook a series of part time positions, unrelated to
her engineering expertise but which fitted with family life. Having
made a decision to return to engineering, she accessed a range
of RETURN related services to maximise her skills, boost her confidence
and make the move from just earning money to the rewards of a
career.
Jackie qualified with an engineering degree
from Oxford University and held a number of positions in her nine
year career at British Gas, the last being a Senior Officer in
an IT section of the Gas Distribution Department, where she won
a national, prestigious IT Award.
She left to have the first of three children
in 1990, and over the course of the next 16 years held a series
of part time positions, which included setting up and running
administration systems and accounts for a wide variety of businesses.
However, with a keen ambition to return to engineering, Jackie
stopped working completely in 2006 in order to focus her efforts
on getting back to her career, albeit with reassessed priorities.
She explains:
"I do want it all. I want a SET career,
not a job, but I also want to be there for my children when they
need me. Longer term I will work full time, but in the short term,
part time working will give me the flexibility to shuffle commitments
if and when I need to".
Since attending the T160 RETURN to SETwork course,
Jackie has benefited from training workshops covering personal
development, CV writing, interview techniques and work/life balance.
She has attended networking events, become involved in mentoring
through JIVE and Equalitec, and recently successfully completed
Prince2 Practitioner project management certification, funded
by Equalitec.
She is a member of the JIVE mentoring circle
in Cambridge and having been accepted for a work placement by
the Daphne Jackson Trust, is now actively seeking a position.
Meanwhile Jackie works part time for two small start up companies.
With so many competing demands on her time, Jackie acknowledges
that outside support is key to staying on track:
"The mentoring has been very helpful in
keeping me focused on what I want to do and in getting me to do
it. It's easy to get swamped. The whole process definitely builds
your confidence about getting back to a career. When you've not
been using your skills, it's very easy to underrate them and to
forget just what you are capable of. You don't realise how much
confidence you lose by not doing things".
Having immersed herself in the resources available
from organizations like the UKRC, and become involved in the Cambridge
AWiSE Steering Group (where her expertise in obtaining charity
status is being called upon), Jackie has significantly enhanced
her skills and marketability, but more importantly, reacquainted
herself with her own abilities and capabilities:
"Now I am thinking in terms of career. Rather
than just earning money, now it's about self esteem and self efficacy".
Case Study 4—Planning for return
Since leaving her role as Production Manager
for a global chemical company, Chartered Chemical Engineer, Kat
Richardson has been on a five year career break to focus on her
young family. During this time she has used RETURN services to
develop her training and career action plan, with a view to fulfilling
her environmental ambitions when she eventually returns to work.
Despite being a full time mother to two children,
Kat has found both the time and energy to form a co-owned environmentally
friendly party planning and delivery business, and complete an
MBA with the Open University, whilst at home. However, her long
term goal had always been to return to work and make use of her
engineering skills.
Although she was certain that with her changed
circumstances she didn't want to return to 60 plus hours a week
as a production manager, Kat hadn't identified exactly what she
did want until she embarked upon the T160 RETURN to SETwork course.
She explains:
"I was always very worried that where we
live was wrong for returning to engineering, that we would have
to move. However, RETURN services have helped me refocus and look
at other alternatives where I can use my engineering skills, but
in an area I am passionate about".
Prompted by the T160, Kat has begun an OU course,
Energy for a Sustainable Future, with a view to updating her engineering
skills to work in an environmental arena.
"Completing the T160 definitely made me
think about my goals, the direction I wanted to take, and made
me write an action plan. I was a bit lost. Although my plan has
changed since then, it helped me more than I realized at the time".
Focused and determined, Kat has used her time
at home to take real steps in establishing the direction of her
future career:
"Possibly next year, when my youngest child
is settled in nursery, I plan to pick up some work in energy consultancy.
It's amazing how much help is out there! It's been really useful".
Case Study 5—Transferring skills and experience
When IT consultant Nada Johnn was made redundant
in 2005, with more than 29 years' industry experience behind her
she confidently looked forward to a short break and subsequent
re-employment. But after more than 12 frustrating months of trying
to re-enter her profession, she realised things were not going
to be straightforward. Support and advice from the UKRC proved
critical in recharging her enthusiasm, refocusing her approach
and helping her get back to work.
In her former role for Sapiens IT Consultancy
Nada had managed a team of ten, delivering IT solutions for a
range of clients, but as her time out of work increased, her self
confidence took a nose dive.
"I began to feel that my age was working
against me and it was a Catch 22 situation. You go for IT jobs
below your capabilities with a view to getting back in and working
your way back up, but employers look at your CV and say you are
going to be bored at the level for which you are applying and
you cannot convince them otherwise", Nada explains.
Working closely with her local UKRC hub in the
South East, Nada embarked upon a series of initiatives, including
the T160 Return to SET work course, mentoring, and interview skills
workshops. As she built her interview techniques and confidence,
she also began to appreciate what she had achieved in her IT career
and what she was still capable of.
"Like many women I tended to think that
anyone could do what I did. I realised that I'm too modest."
Nada particularly benefited from the personal
approach provided by her local UKRC hub, greatly valuing the support
and encouragement when her enthusiasm began to flag, and when
she felt the familiar isolation that results from periods away
from the workplace:
"Veronica Benson was fantastic. She looked
at my CV and gave me comments. I met her at workshops. She always
had the time, gave me coaching, encouraged me, kept me focused
and urged me to keep driving towards my goal of returning to IT".
But in light of the difficulties she had already
experienced, Nada made the decision to consider how she might
utilise her talents in other SET careers:
"I began to realise that there was something
apart from IT I could do. The skills I have can be used for something
else, something important and worthwhile, but still relating to
my SET background".
Employing the range of skills and techniques
she had learnt, she successfully applied for a full time position
as programme assistant at the Engineering Development Trust (EDT).
Here Nada is helping to deliver an initiative to encourage wider
participation of able students from under-represented backgrounds
into the engineering professions.
Keen to give something back to the world of
SET she has also applied to be a SET ambassador for schools in
the Northampton area, and in the longer term predicts that her
people skills will play an even more influential role in developing
her career.
January 2008
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