Business, Innovation and Skills CommitteeWritten evidence submitted by the Women into Science and Engineering (WISE) Campaign
About the WISE Campaign
1. Women into Science and Engineering (WISE) inspires women and girls from all backgrounds to pursue science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) as pathways to exciting, worthwhile and fulfilling careers. We support educational institutions, business and industry to provide a welcoming and positive experience for women. WISE acts as a catalyst and broker—bringing together women, educational institutions, business and industry to create a powerful force for change. Working in partnership, our aim is to ensure that 30% of the UK’s STEM workforce is female by 2020.
2. Our services are designed to build and sustain the pipeline of female talent in STEM, from classroom to board room. These include:
(I)
(II)
(III)
3. Our submission focuses on the question posed by the Inquiry on how to tackle gender stereotyping, which is a barrier to women’s participation in STEM subjects and therefore limits their contribution to the STEM workforce. WISE is the new trading name of the UKRC, which was funded by BIS from 2004–12. The purpose of the UKRC was to increase the proportion and position of women in science, engineering and technology careers by providing resources to industry and education and support services to women, including those STEM qualified but not currently working in it. Our submission reflects lessons learned from this investment.
Evidence
4. Women in the UK are under-represented in STEM sectors: it is 37 years since the passing of the Sex Discrimination Act. The engineering workforce comprises 4% female technicians and 6% female engineers.1 The percentage of women employed as IT and telecoms professionals has declined from 22% in 2001 to just 18% in 2010.2 Fewer than one in five of applicants to the Technical Apprenticeship Service for scientific roles are female.3
5. Female participation in STEM tapers off from primary school age onwards. The proportion of girls sitting STEM GCSEs is almost 50%.4 The proportion of girls sitting STEM “A” levels is 42%.5 Women account for only 33% of undergraduates,6 and only 12% of the STEM workforce.7 Fewer girls and women study STEM subjects: and then there is also a serious problem of retention. More than two thirds of working age women in the UK with a STEM degree do not work in STEM occupations.8
6. A recent evaluation of pilot projects to increase the diversity of apprenticeships found that young women, parents and, often, teachers and advisers held outdated views of STEM occupations. Employers tended to feel that there were few barriers on the supply side but rather there was limited demand among young women. However, pilots were not convinced that all employers had considered unconscious bias in recruitment practices and work environments.9
7. The evidence shows that girls are in effect discouraged from taking up STEM subjects from primary school age onwards. This failure of the education system means there is a smaller pool of talent for businesses which need more people with STEM skills. It also means women are excluded from jobs commanding higher earnings.10 For those women who do obtain STEM qualifications, the culture and practices of traditionally male-dominated working environments is often a deterrent to their recruitment and retention. The overall impact of the dearth of women in STEM occupations is that UK industry does not benefit from the additional innovation, return on equity and profit that a diverse workforce offers.
Recommendations for Tackling Gender Stereotyping in Engineering, Construction, Science and Technology Sectors
8. Engineering, science and technology are still not chosen as careers by the majority of women and girls in the UK, despite a growing desire from business and industry to diversify their workforce. There is a lot of public money going into engagement initiatives which are failing to have any significant impact on the numbers of women in STEM. We need to break the vicious circle, whereby the lack of female role models in UK companies sends a message to the next generation that these industries are not for them. It is time for a fresh approach. WISE recommends concerted and co-ordinated action on three fronts:
Promote the case for change.
Build the female pipeline.
Sustain the female pipeline.
9. Recommended action to promote the case for change:
(I)
(II)
(III)
(IV)
10. Recommended action to build the female pipeline:
(I)
(II)
(III)
(IV)
(V)
(VI)
(VII)
(VIII)
11. Recommended action to sustain the female pipeline:
(I)
(II)
(III)
(a)
(b)
(c)
(IV)
(V)
(VI)
(VII)
(VIII)
(IX)
(X)
(XI)
(XII)
(XIII)
11 October 2012
1 Engineering and Technology: Skills and demand in industry, Annual survey, 2012, IET
2 Why you need to know more about the gender imbalance in IT, E-skills website download 28 September 2012
3 Technical Apprenticeship Service, July 2012
4 Secondary analysis by the UKRC (2012) of JCQ GCSE and Entry Level Certificate [Provisional] Results Summer 2012 (http://www.jcq.org.uk/national_results/gcses/ accessed 23 August 2012)
5 The UKRC (2010), Women and men in science, engineering and technology – The UK statistics guide 2010
6 Secondary analysis by the UKRC (2010), The working age population by ethnicity, economic activity and occupation in the UK, 2009
7 The UK statistics guide as above
8 ???
9 Evaluation of the Diversity in Apprenticeships pilots, Institute of Employment Studies, September 2012
10 The gender pay gap in technology is 23%—significantly higher than the figure for the UK labour market as a whole.
11 For example, a young female engineer on work placement complained to WISE recently about being told by male colleagues she had to “man up”