The dearth of women in STEM careers isn’t from discrimination but a perception and visibility issue, says Dame Sue Ion
Women now make up 24% of FTSE 100 board positions and are increasingly represented in high profile science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) roles. Both the Royal Academy of Engineering and the Institution of Engineering and Technology have appointed female presidents in the last year; Dame Ann Dowling and Naomi Climer respectively. The Institute of Physics has Frances Saunders at the helm, and Louise Kingham is Chief Executive of the Energy Institute.
Many women are also at the cutting edge of innovation. Women such as Professor Eleanor Stride at the University of Oxford, who is developing new treatments for cancer and Alzheimer’s using microbubbles, are pioneering new technologies to change our world. Asha Peta-Thompson is creating revolutionary electronic textiles for military uniforms to help save soldiers’ lives, and Dame Wendy Hall is involved in pioneering work towards the semantic web in order to make the data on the web more useable and interlinked. These are just a few of the hundreds of amazing female innovators from across the STEM sectors.