New group to help companies recruit and retain more women engineers and scientists

The Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) has joined forces with Prospect, the trade union representing professionals in the UK, to announce a new joint working group to help companies recruit and retain more women engineers and scientists.

Jackie Whitelaw
10 March 2015

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The group, which has grown out of a conference to coincide with International Women’s Day, will establish best practice guidance to share across industry on how best to recruit and retain women in science and engineering roles

“We have talked about the lack of women in engineering and science for many years now. More female-friendly retention and recruitment practices are an important part of the challenge." - Naomi Climer

Only six per cent of engineers in the UK today are women. This is due to a number of factors from the careers advice girls are given in schools, to schools not instilling girls with the confidence to opt for science and maths at A level. But it is also due to some employers needing to make their approach to recruitment and retention more female friendly.

Supported by Meg Munn MP, Baroness Prosser, president of Sony Media Cloud Services and IET president-elect Naomi Climer and IET President-elect, and vice president of Prospect Denise McGuire, the group will also have industry representation from a range of major employers who attended the conference, including the Met Office, Atkins Global and BAE Systems.

Issues to be addressed include:

Unconscious bias: How can organisations and individuals shift subconscious social attitudes, stereotypes and ingrained recruitment and promotion attitudes that exist and negatively impact a more diverse workforce?

Good practice for retention: How can industry encourage organisations to recognise that creating a level playing field for women benefits everyone. Flexible working, fair pay and a more inclusive culture should be on all organisations’ agenda because they are proven to improve overall staff retention, and are good for business.

Commenting on the new working group, Climer, said: “We have talked about the lack of women in engineering and science for many years now. More female-friendly retention and recruitment practices are an important part of the challenge.

“By bringing together a working group which for the first time has representatives from Government, trade unions, industry and professional bodies, we want to get to the crux of the issue and come up with some hard hitting and practical guidance that can help more companies address this significant problem.

“While International Women’s Day is about championing women’s achievements, it’s also about making sure that women are achieving their potential. And it’s also about making sure our world economies – which increasingly depend on engineering, manufacturing and technology – are not being hampered by the fact we are missing out on the talent and contributions of 50% of the potential workforce.”

McGuire said: "Women are in STEM for careers, not just for International Women's Day! We need to stamp out unconscious bias and make the world of work a fairer place for everyone.”

More information on Prospect’s What’s Holding Women Back report here