The STEM women who have helped develop the industry

STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths), however, is frequently aligned with male academic achievement, with females seeing little representation. According to a Statista report, in 2019 women made up just 24% of STEM employees in the UK.

In recent years however, women have started to tip the balance, with a 31% increase in entries from women and girls looking to complete STEM-related A-Levels, and the number of women working in engineering doubling during the past decade.

Jobs for the boys?

Current statistics still fall short of the UK government’s goal of a critical mass of 30%. One reason for this is that fewer girls choose to study STEM subjects at university than boys.

There’s a common misconception that when at school, boys generally fare better in maths and science, whilst girls tend to flourish in subjects like humanities. However, this theory has been debunked and research shows that girls typically perform as well as boys in coursework tasks, but they don’t perform as well in tests. This perception may be a product of girls’ anxiety surrounding subjects more ‘suited’ to boys.

Another reason can be the lack of female role models for young girls. With this in mind, we talk about some of the biggest female players across the STEM fields.

Science

Science has a longstanding history of successful women, from Marie Curie’s pioneering work across physics and chemistry to Rosalind Franklin’s contribution to the discovery of DNA structure.

Today, women continue to spearhead new developments in a time when scientific developments have perhaps never been more under the microscope (every pun intended). If you look at the UK’s vaccine response, Professor Sarah Gilbert, Kate Bingham, and Dr Jenny Harries have all played high-profile roles in the fight against Covid and are shining examples of the highly qualified roles available to young girls and women.

Technology

Women also have a strong presence in the UK tech sector. Cindy Rose OBE, for instance, is President of Microsoft’s Western European division with the guiding mission of empowering people and organisations to achieve more.

Carmina Lees is another prime example, Managing Director of financial services at the Fortune 500 company Accenture which specialises in global consulting and processing services.

Susanne Chishti, meanwhile, is one of the Fintech thought leaders globally and CEO of Fintech Circle – Europe’s first angel network focused on Fintech opportunities.

Engineering

Statistically, the UK has the lowest percentage of female engineers in Europe at less than 10%.

Some female business leaders, however, are still inspiring the next generation. Each year the Women’s Engineering Society (WES) honours the top 50 women and their achievements in the industry.

Some notable winners in 2022 included Divya Bhanderi, Senior Engineer at Arup, Hannah Abend, Chief Operating Officer at Wood Thilsted and Natalie Kerres, Founder at Scaled.

Mathematics

The UK’s rich history of female mathematicians stretches all the way back to Ada Lovelace, daughter of Lord Byron and frequently cited as the world’s first computer programmer.

More recent examples include the precocious Maths prodigy Ruth Lawrence who, aged ten, became the youngest person to win a place at Oxford University. Since then, she has been a hugely influential researcher in knot theory and algebraic topology.

The UK is still lagging in terms of industries related to the STEM curriculum, but with these bright examples, more and more young women should feel empowered to take their place in STEM

Sources  

• UK STEM workforce by gender 2019 | Statista  
• Women in STEM Week 2021: How we’re empowering the next generation - The Education Hub (blog.gov.uk)
• ‘We need to show girls that engineering is exciting’: how role models can light a spark | Engineering careers | The Guardian
• Useful Statistics | Women's Engineering Society (wes.org.uk)
• Structural Suite - Oasys (oasys-software.com)
• OK computer: how Ada Lovelace is being brought to musical life | Classical music | The Guardian
• https://nataliekerres.com/projects/scaled.html  
• INWED22 – WT’s INVENTORS & INNOVATORS – Meet Hannah Abend — Wood Thilsted
• Dedicated to sustainable development - Arup