UK science continues to face a myriad of transformational challenges, including the ongoing impact of Britain’s exit from the European Union as one of the biggest, resulting in a potentially smaller pool of talent available for UK firms to choose from, a likely decline in foreign direct investment and a deviation away from regulatory norms. All of which pose significant threats to the sector.
Nurturing the finest homegrown talent and redressing the gender imbalance will be essential to neutralising these risks and making the most of opportunities further down the line. But the lack of gender diversity in science means that we’re fighting these challenges with one hand tied behind our back.
Too few STEM leaders are female, but this is widely known. What we need to do is turn knowledge into action.
There are many reasons why females are under-represented in science and the situation is complex. However we know that not enough girls opt to pursue STEM subjects beyond GCSE level, women are often overlooked for boardroom roles in favour of men, and those who achieve leadership positions are seldom given a sufficient platform to showcase STEM as a female-friendly industry.
Solutions to the science shortage
So, what can be done to tackle these barriers to entry? Establishing a more encouraging education environment for girls and young women is an obvious starting point. Many companies have already started to do their bit to tackle issues within science through lobbying and school outreach work.
But this is only a starting point. A culture change among science and technology firms is required in order to successfully enhance attitudes towards the sector.
For example, progressive parental leave and flexible working policies are needed to eradicate the thinking that successfully raising a family and advancing in industry are mutually exclusive. Related to this is actively working to remove bias from recruitment, something you’d expect to not still be an issue, but is.
Teacher training to support STEM teaching and more opportunities for employers and industry to engage with young people through meaningful work placement programmes and inspirational career activities will also support the building of the talent pipelines in local areas. Funding to upskill teachers in STEM via Science Learning Partnerships, computing teaching bursaries and employers supporting teacher training through ENTHUSE partnerships are vital to ensuring teachers are briefed and feel confident about teaching the most up to date and relevant topics in STEM. Opportunities for teachers to see and engage with STEM workplaces will also support their understanding of careers in STEM.
Finally, there must be visible role models for the young females that we are trying so hard to inspire. It’s imperative to ensure that female entrepreneurs and their start-ups have time to flourish, as too often promising talent and ideas are snapped up by big pharma before they have a chance to shine. After all, if you can’t see it, you can’t be it.
Taking action
Bruntwood SciTech is committed to making in-roads on these issues and is supporting major STEM initiatives.
For British Science Week in March, Bruntwood SciTech is supporting schools to engage with industry by inviting young people aged 14 – 15 (Year 9) to Alderley Park, the UK’s largest single site life science campus, to learn about the work that happens there and how it affects the lives of young people and their families, now and in the future, and to encourage them to consider picking STEM subjects at A-Level, or consider a technical STEM qualification post-16. Our intention is that next year, we will do the same at BHIC, working closely with the team at the PHTA, creating similar opportunities for young people in Birmingham.
Across Bruntwood SciTech’s national network there is a wealth of inspiring women whose stories prove that females can make an impact in the STEM industries. Tiffany Daniels-Thorn at BiVictriX Therapeutics at Alderley Park, Digno’s Managing Director Ewa Truchanowicz at Innovation Birmingham and Maddie Julian from Digibete at Platform in Leeds are just a few examples of women leading change and development in UK science. Their work is vital, but they can’t drive progress alone.
This International Day of Women and Girls in Science should act as a reminder that it’s incumbent on everyone in the industry – male and female – to work together to address these issues. And not just for equality’s sake – it’s mission critical.
Dr Kath Mackay is Director of Life Sciences at Bruntwood SciTech, the UK’s leading creator and operator of innovation districts, growing the science and technology sector. Bruntwood SciTech is developing Birmingham Health Innovation Campus(BHIC) in partnership with University of Birmingham, as part of a ten year masterplan to develop a world-leading health technologies campus here in the West Midlands. The first phase of the development, No.1 BHIC, will be opening later this year, and will be home to the PHTA, as well as providing best-in-class space for the region’s growing cluster of digital health and medtech companies.
