STFC pledges to get more women into science and technology careers
8 May 2014 11:32 AM
We have answered the
government’s call to action yesterday (7th May 2014) by pledging our
support for its Your Life campaign.
Launched by the Chancellor,
George Osborne, at the Science Museum in London, the campaign aims to encourage
more women to take up careers in science, technology, engineering and maths
(STEM).
Boosting such skills is
essential if the UK is to remain at the forefront of science and technology,
and to thrive in a global economy. Currently only a fifth of students taking
A-level physics are girls, and less than one in ten UK engineering
professionals are women.
George Osborne said, “This
campaign, which brings together some of Britain's best businesses,
institutions and government, will help inspire young people into jobs in these
exciting sectors that are essential to our economic
prosperity.”
Delivering STFC’s pledge
at the event are Professor Susan Smith, Dr Ceri Brenner and Dr Sophy Palmer,
three women who have excelled in their chosen careers.
Our science and technology
– including “blue sky” research such as astronomy or research
with direct human benefits such as medical and environmental applications -
offer many girls an appealing route into the physical sciences and
engineering.
Our pledge includes that,
through our National Laboratories and nationwide touring
programme:
- We will run public events that
we expect to engage with 26,500 girls and women
- We will run school activities
that we expect to engage with 25,000 girls directly and 30,000 girls indirectly
through teachers and educators.
- We will, as part of wider work
to improve the inclusion and diversity of our public engagement programmes,
review and make improvements to the way we engage girls with
STEM.
In national
partnerships:
- We will continue the project
‘Explore Your Universe’ with the Science Centres sector which has
already reached 156,000 people, 50% of whom are girls, and Centres will explore
ways of making the activities even more appealing to girls.
And as an employer and research
funder:
- We will, jointly with other
Research Councils, participate on the judging panel of the annual WISE
Excellence awards and sponsor one of the awards.
- We will continue to involve our
STEM women in major recruitment campaigns, including have female graduates give
presentations at our assessment centres.
- We will continue to publish,
online and in print, material on careers for Women in STEM.
For more information about the
government’s Your Life campaign visit:www.yourlife.org.uk/