According to recent figures from the UK Government, there is now just a shade over a million women in the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) workforce. This translates to a 24% increase of women entering these work areas—over a third of a million more year on year. However, while this may be encouraging to hear, there is still a long way to go for gender equality in these male-dominated industries.

“My husband has just had a pay rise, which is lovely, but I can't help notice that in the last 10 years, his salary has increased 87%, while mine has increased by 18%. I've spent most of that time working on curing cancer. He's been calculating your car insurance.”

Dr Angharad Watson, Research Network Manager and Cell Biologist, UK

Highlighting the long journey ahead in achieving gender equality, Dr Angharad Watson, Research Network Manager and Cell Biologist, recently tweeted, “My husband has just had a pay rise, which is lovely, but I can't help notice that in the last 10 years, his salary has increased 87%, while mine has increased by 18%. I've spent most of that time working on curing cancer. He's been calculating your car insurance.” While 2020’s UK women in STEM target was hit, 2030’s target of 1.5 million women in STEM occupations would see 30% of this workforce filled by women. According to the Harvard University Institute of Politics, 30% is the ‘critical mass’ level where a minority group of women would have the ability to influence real change. In a post-pandemic, post-Brexit world, women in STEM have become more critical than ever.

Exasperated inequality
The COVID-19 pandemic affected the world in many different ways – one being unravelling the limited progress we had made towards gender equality over the last couple of decades. The study, Gender Differences in Patients With COVID-19: Focus on Severity and Mortality, published in Public Health, reported that while men are more susceptible to severe effects of COVID-19, the financial and social toll is paid by more women. For example, women in insecure, informal, and lower-paid jobs experienced more loss of employment. Furthermore, that Black, Asian, and ethnic minority women were hit hardest by job cuts.

Talent working in STEM are likely to have a relatively high-paid job. There is significant growth in these jobs as well as high employment rates for graduates and being revolutionised by technology. However, women are disadvantaged by being underrepresented in some of the most lucrative and secure industries.

According to the UN’s report, Policy Brief: The Impact of COVID-19 on Women, “Across the globe, women earn less, save less, hold less secure jobs, are more likely to be employed in the informal sector. In addition, they have less access to social protection and are the majority of single-parent households. Their capacity to absorb economic shocks is, therefore, less than that of men.”

Diverse perspectives
Melinda Gates, renowned philanthropist and former General Manager at Microsoft, said, “Innovation happens when we approach urgent challenges from every different point of view. Bringing women and underrepresented minorities into the field guarantees that we see the full range of solutions to the real problems that people face in the world.”

The pandemic taught us that empathetic, reactive, and agile leadership was essential to help curb the spread of the virus. Legislation brought in by the female prime minister of New Zealand, Jacinda Ardern, helped stamp out the virus across the entire country. The WEF reported that female leaders had handled the pandemic crisis well. Now more than ever, it is vital to have a female point of view in the workplace, not just in politics and running countries, but in industries where women are underrepresented. Women can bring diverse and fresh perspectives to male-dominated fields, creating a better platform for innovation, creativity, and decision-making.

Embracing and encouraging women in STEM
Glass ceilings can be one of the primary reasons women shy away from degrees and occupations in STEM. Heriot-Watt University in the UK argues that girls are systematically drawn away from science and math courses throughout their education, which discourages them from pursuing opportunities and training to enter these fields professionally. HR can encourage women to pursue STEM by:

1. exposing girls to STEM material and introduce female role models in these industries at a young age;
2. encouraging participation in STEM programmes through funding and ambassadors; and
3. helping break down stereotypes around male and female careers.

In this way, HR can help open more doors for women into STEM to benefit the industry and create better opportunities for women globally.