Industry leaders educate on women in STEM at WISE Conference 2023

Leaders from major industry organisations, including the Government Equalities Office, Network Rail, and FDM Group, came together to educate on women in STEM at the WISE Conference 2023 at the IET in London yesterday. 

With the theme Empower Your Workforce, the conference set out to highlight key methods of attracting, retaining and growing STEM women in businesses through a series of speeches, exhibitions and panels. 

ONS research revealed that nearly 800,000 staff in the UK switched jobs last summer with STEM businesses facing a ‘chronic’ skills shortage, while the Institute of Engineering and Technology estimated a shortfall of over 173,000 workers in STEM in summer 2021. 

The all-day event promoted the empowerment of women in STEM and included a headline talk from Nina Lawrence of the Government Equalities Office on How to Recruit from the Returner Talent Pool. 

Inspirational speakers and thought leaders in the Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) space explored how employers can approach the task of empowering their female employees to enable them to grow in their careers, how to spot transferable skills and offered insight into how the gap in the industry can be reduced. 

Lisa Andrews, Head of Returners Recruitment for FDM Group, said:

“TheWISEConference 2023 was a fantastic event to highlight the value of women in STEM and to encourage new joiners and returners alike to engage with core industries such as technology. Seeing the commitment of leading industry organisations at the event reinforces the importance of diversity and inclusion for businesses and serves to inspire women to pursue opportunities in the technology industry.” 

Sheila Flavell, Chief Operating Officer for FDM Group, commented: 

“Improving female representation in STEM is a critical mission and it is important to drive constant awareness through events and other means to help encourage organisations to re-evaluate their recruitment methods and the career opportunities that they offer in order to cultivate an inclusive workplace that promotes diversity.”

“It is vital that increasing female involvement and representation in STEM is continually expanded, reducing the barriers to entry and providing training schemes to support development. Some businesses are being held back by their lack of diversity, especially in leadership positions, and it is important that this issue is addressed in order for businesses to grow. FDM holds the ongoing commitment to providing these opportunities for women and we hope other organisations will take the same approach in empowering women at every stage in business.”