This week, on Tuesday 6th May, Sally Tsoukaris attended the Women and Work APPG: Empowering women in STEM: skills for the future at Portcullis House.
The APPG session was chaired by Catherine Fookes MP, who co-chairs the Women and Work All-Party Parliamentary Group and is also on the Women and Equalities Select Committee.
We heard from a wide range of speakers and participants including women who have built STEM-related careers as entrepreneurs, representatives from more traditional professions such as engineering and construction, the world of banking and financial services and the retail sector.
Topics discussed included the gender stereo-typing of girls from an early age, how schools can make STEM subjects more attractive by linking in with career potential and role models, how women can be encouraged and supported to stay on in their employment throughout various life stages, and the way AI is changing the face of everything we do, including the jobs that we do, banking, retail and customer services and our future employment prospects.
Participants referred to examples of female school leavers, even those with the highest results in the sciences at A Level, being put off during their university or early years of employment by sexual harassment, their inability to demand and secure competitive wages or the challenges of long hours, male-dominated work cultures. Networking, mentoring and sponsorship were suggested as remedies, in the face of a populist-driven backlash against Equality, Diversity and Inclusion initiatives.
The UK is dealing with a massive gender pension gap at the moment, with the most recent Government sources suggesting this is around 35%. For Civil Service pensioners the gap remains stubbornly higher than this! It is imperative that we all work together to ensure that women have opportunities to access the kinds of career opportunities that will offer them long-term financial stability in the ever-changing world of work.
Future sessions of this APPG are due to include opportunities for women in Entrepreneurship and Industry.
