{"id":7999,"date":"2018-06-18T07:30:56","date_gmt":"2018-06-18T06:30:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/engineernewsnetwork.com\/blog\/?p=7999"},"modified":"2018-06-17T13:28:18","modified_gmt":"2018-06-17T12:28:18","slug":"how-stem-industries-can-attract-more-females","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.engineernewsnetwork.com\/blog\/how-stem-industries-can-attract-more-females\/","title":{"rendered":"How STEM industries can attract more females"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>In anticipation of <span class=\"highlight highlight-blue\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wes.org.uk\/events\/international-women-engineering-day-2018\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Women in Engineering Day<\/a><\/span>\u00a0on June 23rd, 2018, Lucy Speed explores what employers in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) industries can do to attract more females into the sector<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The recent <em>Why not physics? \u2013 a snapshot of girls\u2019 uptake at A-level<\/em> report foreword from Professor Dame Julia Higgins, claims that \u201can ill-judged quip that girls \u2018can\u2019t\u2019 do maths, or physics is \u2018too hard\u2019, can lead to girls making life-changing decisions that alter the subject they study or the career they pursue.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Engineering contributes 26% of the UK\u2019s GDP every year, yet <span class=\"highlight highlight-blue\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sheffield.ac.uk\/news\/nr\/sheffield-university-women-engineering-1.759607\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">reports<\/a><\/span>\u00a0suggest that the industry is facing an unprecedented skills shortage.<\/p>\n<p>But what can employers realistically do to encourage the next generation of female graduates to consider science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) as a viable career option?<br \/>\n<script async src=\"\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\" style=\"display: block; text-align: center;\" data-ad-layout=\"in-article\" data-ad-format=\"fluid\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-7565662001938327\" data-ad-slot=\"7585079586\"><\/ins><br \/>\n<script>\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\n<\/script><br \/>\n<strong>Role models and mentors<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Adopting a mentorship or simple \u2018buddy\u2019 system can help women that are joining the workplace feel like they aren\u2019t alone in a disproportionate sector.<\/p>\n<p>Pairing employees up to share experience and knowledge helps to\u00a0create an inclusive environment and can be beneficial in terms of retaining staff that thrive with social stimulation, particularly women.<\/p>\n<p>According to the Women Engineering Society (WES), who set up its own mentorship program to specifically support women in STEM roles, those who participated in the scheme benefited from increased confidence, improved listening and coaching skills as well as employment progression.<\/p>\n<p>At Boulting, we support our staff with dedicated mentors who support employees to achieve their goals across all levels of the organisation.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Flexibility is key<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Providing a work environment that accommodates flexibility for different personal needs can also be beneficial in attracting female employees.<\/p>\n<p>Having an understanding for an individual\u2019s needs, whether that be\u00a0childcare requirements or being able to schedule time off work around holidays will allow your team members to reaffirm their work-life balance.<\/p>\n<p>Natalie Pancheri, HR policy advisor at the London School of Economics also says that \u201cembedding a culture of flexibility begins to chip away at the types of issues that can prevent women from advancing in their careers.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It really can be win-win all round.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Young minds<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>By capturing the minds of the next generation of female STEM graduates, we will begin to see an increase in the number of girls pursuing a career in the sector.<\/p>\n<p>However, a lot of the work to do this must start at school level.<\/p>\n<p>Integrating STEM-style learning through dedicated activities or guest speaker sessions from those in the industry into classrooms, will begin to pave the way for students to consider their future paths.<\/p>\n<p>Working with and supporting teachers to understand what a STEM career can actually entail will also open up conversations with students about what is possible.<\/p>\n<p>Additionally, organisations, like Boulting, that incorporate student reach-out or collaboration programmes to help harness the enthusiasm and talent from younger generations has the potential to lead to more interest in STEM education and apprenticeship opportunities.<\/p>\n<p>At <span class=\"highlight highlight-blue\"><a href=\"https:\/\/engineernewsnetwork.com\/blog\/how-to-work-in-hazardous-environments\/\">Boulting<\/a><\/span> we have a longstanding and successful apprenticeship scheme that has been the springboard for many employees\u2019 careers in the organisation. Our scheme offers the opportunity to develop skills, knowledge and experience across a wide range of engineering sectors including chemical, pharmaceutical, petro-chemical and renewable energy markets.<\/p>\n<p>While some progress has been made to encourage girls to pursue careers in STEM industries, women are still firmly in the minority. Particularly in UK engineering, where, according to the Women in Engineering Society (WES), the UK has the lowest percentage of female engineering professionals in\u00a0Europe and only eleven per cent of the engineering workforce is female.<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s important for organisations in the engineering sector to recognise the importance, and potential, of the future female workforce and secure any opportunity to help promote science, technology, engineering and maths as exciting and rewarding prospective career path.<\/p>\n<p>Lucy Speed is HR advisor at engineering solutions provider <span class=\"highlight highlight-blue\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.boulting.co.uk\/media\/news\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Boulting Ltd<\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In anticipation of Women in Engineering Day\u00a0on June 23rd, 2018, Lucy Speed explores what employers in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) industries can do to attract more females into the sector The recent Why not physics? \u2013 a snapshot of girls\u2019 uptake at A-level report foreword from Professor Dame Julia Higgins, claims that \u201can &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8002,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[199],"tags":[4223,953,3010,4535,3654,3008,3007,3009,4534,4533,4532],"class_list":["post-7999","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-news-views-and-opinion","tag-boulting-ltd","tag-chemical","tag-engineering-and-mathematics","tag-petro-chemical-and-renewable-energy","tag-pharmaceutical","tag-science","tag-stem","tag-technology","tag-wes","tag-women-engineering-society","tag-women-in-engineering-day-2018"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - 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