Is the shortage of STEM women

keeping you awake at night?

Chris Phillips and Sandi Rhys-Jones OBE

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• 3 x Exclusive “invitation only” technology careers event held in October and November

• For high calibre, pre-screened female STEM undergraduates from top universities

• Significant face to face engagement throughout the day between attendees and the

employer representatives

• Student data & CVs provided post event

• Limited spaces remaining for employers

Contact Kirsty Drummond for further details.

kirsty.drummond@targetjobs.co.uk

07772 020207

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Part One – What students think Chris Phillips, Research and Information Director,

GTI Media

Part Two – What can you do to

make you sleep better at night? Sandi Rhys-Jones OBE

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STEM women undergraduate survey

• Survey online for three weeks in May/June 2013

• Female undergraduates studying STEM subjects

were invited to participate from targetjobs.co.uk

database and female TARGETjobs events

• 551 responses from a wide range of universities

• The universities providing the most responses were:

Edinburgh, Heriot-Watt, Birmingham, Manchester,

UCL and Nottingham

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Degree Background

• 30% life sciences

• 20% engineering

• 16% physical sciences

• 14% computing/IT degrees

• 12% medical science degrees

• 4% civil/structural engineering and construction

• 4% other subjects

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Graduation year

9%

13%

25%

30%

23%

2016 or later

2015

2014

2013

2012 or earlier

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Will you be applying (or have already applied)

exclusively for jobs that are directly relevant to your

STEM degree?

62%

27%

11%

Yes

Maybe

Maybe not

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If you answered ‘maybe’ or ‘maybe not’ to the previous

question…….Which of the following statements best describes

your position?

25%

66%

8%

I am fairly certain that I will be end up in a

relevant STEM job but I am looking at

alternatives

I have an open mind and will look at

everything that is available

I definitely plan to look for a non-technical

or non-scientific career

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If you answered ‘maybe’ or ‘maybe not’ to ‘Will you be applying (or have already

applied) exclusively for jobs that are directly relevant to your STEM degree?’

For each of the following, can you indicate how seriously interested you would be in

pursuing a career within these areas?

2

3

3

3

4

4

12

14

15

12

10

8

7

6

11

18

26

31

32

23

26

16

22

20

36

37

34

55

65

63

73

69

65

34

24

20

Retail

Accountancy

Banking or Insurance

Investment Banking

Law

Armed forces or police

Consulting

Management

Public sector and

charities

Seriously interested Interested Possibly interested No thanks

Other: • Teaching • Marketing

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Do you have any of the following concerns about

engineering, science or technical jobs?

21

32

46

41

51

44

42

33

43

34

35

26

21

16

15

Career progression

The status of

jobs/employers in this

field

That the work itself will

not be interesting enough

The level of starting salary

compared with other

careers

The gender balance (ie

joining a predominately

male workplace)

Not a concern Possibly a concern A big concern

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Do you think that STEM employers can make

themselves more attractive to women applicants?

53%

47%

No, they are doing the right things Yes, they could do more

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Which of the following statements do you agree

with the most? Please select one only

36%

41%

16%

6%

more than 80%

around 50%

around 30%

fewer than 20%

On my degree course what percentage of women are planning

to use their degree knowledge directly in a career?

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• Women’s concerns about STEM careers:

– Having to relocate/move every few years

– Achieving a work/life balance suitable for their future families

– Job security

– Cost of studying for further qualifications

• How can we encourage more women into STEM careers:

– More encouragement at school

– More work experience opportunities

– Female role models would be helpful, preferably in senior positions

– Women don’t want positive discrimination

– Lack of confidence – support female personality traits

– Explain qualities women bring to the work place that will enhance STEM

companies

– Need to be careful that STEM events encourage more women without alienating

them

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Summary of survey

• No evidence of widespread dissatisfaction with

careers related to their degree

• 38% of respondents may indeed look at other career

areas but only 11% with any conviction

• No evidence that they would rather work in the City

• Just over half think that employers are doing the right

things to promote themselves to women

• But they do have concerns and they do have

suggestions…

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Part Two - The menu

• Who - a bit about me

• Why - the business driver

• Where - we are now

• What - some companies are doing

• How - you might do more

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Who

In no particular order

• Career in engineering, construction, technology

• Speaker, trainer, facilitator

• Non executive director

• Wife, mother, grandmother

• Mediator and arbitrator

• Employer

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Why

Between now and 2020, engineering

companies need 87,000 people with

engineering degrees

Currently the UK produces 46,000

So we need to double the numbers

– and start fishing from the whole pool. EngineeringUK 2013

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Why choose women?

“Eight out of 10 women who apply to us will

be made job offers. They are focused,

flexible and determined. They bring more of

the softer and transferable skills too.”

Lisa Tyler, WSP

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Understanding customers

“We increasingly find ourselves facing a very

diverse client team. We need to do more in

the construction industry to reflect that.”

Kate Hall, Arup

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Doing better business

“I enjoy developing people, having high

expectations of them. If you do this, then

people will generally deliver.”

Lisa-Jane Risk, BizSpace

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Where are we now?

• UK’s graduation rate for women engineers is 15%

compared with 20% in Europe and 19% in the World

• The UK has the lowest proportion of female engineering

professionals within EU countries

• Only 13% of all STEM jobs in the UK are occupied by

women

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What some companies are doing…

• 6% of surveyed organisations claim to have a

positive attitude to flexible/part time working

• 3% of employers offer structured career paths with

breaks

• 36% of organisations do nothing at all to improve

workforce diversity

The Institution of Engineering and Technology

Annual Skills Survey 2013

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What other companies are doing

Actively engaging in attracting more women

Offering bursaries

Supporting awards (WISE, Aspire, First

Woman etc)

Consider non-cognates

Sponsoring the Big Bang Fair

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Big Bang: filling the hopper

• 90% of 8-11 year olds learned more about

science by coming to the Fair

• 76% of 12-14 year olds viewed engineering

more positively as a result of their visit

• 75% of 15 to 16 year olds knew where to go

next for more career information

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… and what’s more

54% of young people visiting the Big Bang

Fair were female

52% of the winners National Science and

Engineering Competition 2013 were female

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How to do more

“There is a philosophy at interview at not

only getting the best but those who are a bit

different. This year we took on a greater

proportion of women than there were in the

pool of applicants.”

Julie Wood, Arup

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Personal communication

“One in five of our engineers is a woman, so

we are well above the average. And of the

last graduate intake, 30 per cent were

female. This is largely down to our process –

we telephone interview everyone on the long

list before inviting them to assessment day.”

Lisa Tyler, WSP

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Broaden horizons

“We are such a multi-disciplinary

organization there is a whole range of

opportunity, rather than a narrow and linear

career profile.”

Kate Hall, Director, Arup

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Pressure points

“You are very visible as a female in the

industry, which creates a pressure for

constant performance.”

Kate Hall, Arup

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Pressure points

“I have worked within five different

companies as an engineer and believe that

the first two months are the most critical.

This is where I believe a mentor can be

invaluable.”

Claire Jones

IMechE Mechanical Engineers Young Member of the Year

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Progression paths

• “There are more women but I believe

that many do not understand the politics

– or simply don’t want to dance around

with the politics.”

Julie Wood, Arup

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Reality test

“I visited HeathrowTerminal 2B construction site,

thanks to the National Student Awards and

sponsor Byrne Bros. The experience was unique

and put into perspective the information I had

gained over my two years at University; it makes

me even more eager to begin working in such a

challenging and diverse industry.” Alexandra Pares, Loughborough University

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Inclusive development

“There is a lack of support for the softer, career

progression type skills. Rather than having a

woman’s network or young engineer’s network,

institutions could think about having sessions on

negotiation, mentoring, networking, leadership

etc which would attract more young female

engineers without being exclusive.”

Roma Agrawal, Associate, WSP

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How you might do more

• Real work experiences and placements

• Targeted outreach

• Inclusive leadership training

• Networks

• Mentoring

• Broader career development training

• Tell a good story – with the right storyteller

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Send the right message

“If females are discounting engineering as a

'cold and calculated' industry, with a chilly,

technical exterior, we need to make them

aware that it does in fact have a warm and

humanitarian core too.”

Sakthy Selvakumaran, Ramboll

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Thoughts and discussion

• Which is more challenging for your organisation:

recruiting STEM women or retaining them, and why?

• If recruitment is more challenging, and you only have

the budget/resources for 2 activities, what would you

do?

• If retention is more challenging, and you only had the

budget/resources for 2 activities, what would you do?

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Over to you