International Women’s Day: Promoting women’s leadership in science

With ‘Accelerate Action’ as the theme for this year’s International Women’s Day (IWD) taking place on March 8, a debate in the UK’s House of Lords sought to highlight the ongoing struggle to attract and retain women in STEM careers.

An analysis of research published by the House of Lords library ahead of the debate showed that, overall, women in further education in the UK are currently less likely to study science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM). But this trend varies by subject - data on A-level exam entries in 2023–24 showed that men were more likely to study mathematics, computer science and physics, with women more likely to study chemistry and biology, while a similar pattern can be seen at degree level.

“Women’s participation in STEM has improved, but challenges remain. Women now make up 24% of the STEM workforce in the UK, surpassing 1 million for the first time. However, representation remains disproportionately low in certain fields, highlighting ongoing challenges,” said Baroness Smith of Malvern, Minister of State in the Department for Education. Higher education is playing a key role in driving change, she said, with universities implementing mentoring schemes, outreach programmes and gender-balanced research funding to support and retain female talent in STEM.

“We should care about all forms of equality in science and technology for their own sake, but we should also care because this drives the betterment of our society and the strengthening of our economy. When women and girls are equally involved in shaping science and tech, the world gets faster breakthroughs, products that work properly and better returns,” she said.

Highlighting the struggles beyond studying or working in STEM fields, Baroness Lane-Fox of Soho said: “I suggest two important areas to focus on. The first is around innovation and entrepreneurship. Just 1.8% of venture capital funding goes to women.” It is marginally better if you look at cofounding teams of men and women, she said, even though as the Harvard Business Review said in 2015, if you have mixed and diverse teams it will lead to a 20% increase in your profit line.

While the debate focused on what needed to change to improve the position of women in STEM careers, Baroness Bottomley of Nettlestone also took the opportunity to celebrate a number of the female scientists who had reached senior positions in their fields.

“I have been looking through the names of other extraordinary women scientists. There is Dame Ottoline Leyser, the first female head of UKRI, again a Fellow of the Royal Society and a plant scientist. We have Hayaatun Sillem, the CEO of the Royal Academy of Engineering, from Oxford and UCL and a biochemist. Then there is Irene Tracey, the first female scientist vice-chancellor of the University of Oxford, who is a neuroscientist and formerly head of Merton College. There is Dame Angela McLean, who has just taken over as Government Chief Scientific Adviser, and Dame June Raine, the first woman to run the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency—absolutely tremendous—and so many others.”

Welcoming the inputs for the debate from various stakeholders including SCI, Viscount Stansgate called for girls to be encouraged to “explore STEM without fear or hesitation.”

International data shows that fewer women are employed in STEM fields than men, although in areas such as natural and social science, conservation and environment – and research and development - the difference is small. UNESCO data from 2018 to 2023, released for the ‘Global education monitoring, gender report 2024’, indicated that women made up only 35% of STEM graduates.

UNESCO found that women held less than 25% of science, engineering and ICT jobs in 2022. It also estimated that women occupied just over one-in-five technology positions in companies. In addition, UNESCO found similar disparities among STEM teachers. It noted that the 2018 Teaching and Learning International Survey results had shown that 31% of lower secondary school male teachers taught STEM subjects compared to 25% of female teachers.

The lack of women in STEM fields has often been referred to as a “leaky pipeline” problem, referring to the idea that even though interested and having ability to succeed in STEM careers, women tend not to pursue or remain in them.

Further reading:

I fell in love with science because it was familiar’ – Meet Prof Ijeoma Uchegbu

In profile: Dr Zoë Henley