Taking place on 11th February, the IDWGIS is an annual event adopted by the United Nations (UN) to promote the full and equal access and participation of females in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). This year it will focus on the role of women and girls and science in achieving its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

This comes as a leading recent report revealed that establishing better gender equality in the workplace could help unlock more than $12 trillion in new market value and up to 380 million jobs linked to the UN’s SDGs by 2030.1 Yet, the STEM sector remains male-dominated – just one in four STEM workers are women.2

As an industry pioneer in this remit, Profusion continues to press ahead with its progressive Diversity & Inclusion (D&I) focus. The business' team consists of more than twenty nationalities and comprises a 62% female leadership team. It has also established a Data Academy to train a new generation of data specialists from underrepresented groups. 

Natalie Cramp, CEO of Profusion, comments: “The gender gap in STEM subjects remains stubbornly high. Less than a quarter of UK STEM professionals are women. This number falls even further for more specific roles. For example, just 16.5% of British engineers are women, a lower ratio than in any EU country.3 This is despite the industry offering some of the highest-paid and in-demand roles. In fact, in the tech industry some of the most sought-after skills - such as data scientists - are where you will find some of the largest gender disparities. The underrepresentation of women in these industries is fueling the UK’s skills gap and holding back innovation and growth - they are a huge potential resource for the country. 

“The current approach simply isn’t working and we must delve deeper to find out why. A common belief is that the origin of the gender gap can be found in the classroom, gender stereotypes are formed as young as seven. Girls are discouraged from entering what are perceived to be more male-dominated occupations and therefore less inclined to enroll in STEM subjects.

"While this is slowly changing, with more girls taking STEM A-levels than ever before, they are still largely outnumbered and still far less likely to proceed into a STEM-based profession.

“The reality is that people make career choices, often without knowing it, at a very young age. When they choose their GCSE subjects they can end up closing the door on a whole raft of professions. At the moment, we know that girls are being put off taking subjects like maths which means pursuing a career in STEM is much harder.

"We need to be more proactive in educating young people on what each subject means for their future professional options. To achieve this teachers and parents need to know in much greater detail what career options are out there and send the message that professions do not have a gender identity. Ideally, we should have much more investment in career advice which should start at an earlier age. We all need to do our bit and commit time to working in partnership with schools and colleges and providing positive role models in this area.

"This means we also need to think laterally and attract more women to the profession later in their career, hiring for transferable skills and experience and teaching the industry. If we do not improve the workforce we have, we won’t have those to inspire the next generation. There is well-documented evidence that relatable role models make a big difference to subject and career choices. 

“Another issue is the ‘Boys Club’ culture which still thrives in pockets of the industry, whereby women can feel segregated from their male counterparts. This is demonstrated as various studies show that a large number of women admit their fear of sexism in the industry has held them back, while others have been forced to leave the sector as a direct result.

"Having previously worked in a less male-dominated industry I can confirm the difference I notice in my awareness of the simple fact I am a woman now working in the data and tech industry, the number of times I am interrupted in meetings and excluded from male-dominated groups who grew up in the industry together. It is no wonder women feel excluded or miss opportunities to progress. Industry movements like Women in Data do a fantastic job to make progress in this area but we are far from solving it and must all take action with renewed energy and focus.

“Research shows that having a more diverse and inclusive workforce can help achieve a higher return on equity and better financial performance. This is because it can strengthen an organisation’s intellectual capacity, breeding the ability to innovate and adapt in our fast-changing environment, with studies showing a critical mass of women in senior positions can have the maximum positive impact on a company’s performance.

"This becomes especially important as we look to the race to net zero, which will require a greater diversity of perspective and radical innovation than ever before.”