• Question: What do you think should be done about the lack of women pursuing STEM careers?

    Asked by Timea to Dave, Ed, Guido, Hugh, Stef on 12 Mar 2015.
    • Photo: Ed Rial

      Ed Rial answered on 12 Mar 2015:

      Hi Timea

      In short, as much as possible! The structure of a science career should be changed so it is easier to combine a personal life with a work life, without having to move across the country or even the world every three years looking for a new job. This is true for men and women but in the past it has affected women more.

      In terms of more engineering type roles things are (slowly) beginning to change, but people inside computing or engineering industries need to realise that the manner in which they recruit and retain people is still focussed on men. It’s not deliberate but the use of some words and some actions that subconsciously stop women from applying for jobs. There are, broadly speaking (and it is always dangerous to generalise!), some differences in the way men and women approach a job advert. A man is more likely to look at a job description, see something they can’t do, Google it and decide that they know enough about it. A woman is more likely to think they have to know everything on a job description perfectly before they will apply.

      Hopefully activities like I’m a Scientist Get Me Out Of Here will encourage all people into science and over time an even balance will be reached.

      I hope you don’t let any gender issues stop you from achieving your ambition of being a Dark Lord! 😉

      (And yes, that is totally a valid STEM career choice!)

    • Photo: Dave Bond

      Dave Bond answered on 12 Mar 2015:

      Just pointing out one little thing about Ed’s post
      > I hope you don’t let any gender issues stop you from achieving your ambition of being a Dark Lord! 😉

      You would be a dark Lady ……. 😉

      But yes it is a real issue. People are put off at school the damage is done by the time they get to college. So all these things like this and other STEM work all help address this.

      I would like to think Diamond are better than most, we have one woman in the computing team and there are many other female scientists here. I would hope we can play out part to inspire others to follow in their footsteps.

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