Call for Evidence: Royal Society of Edinburgh inquiry into Women in STEM

The Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE), with the involvement of the Chief Scientific Adviser for Scotland, is addressing the challenge of developing a cohesive and comprehensive strategy for Scotland to tackle the under-representation of women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). The principal aims are to identify factors that appear to limit the proportion of women in the STEM workforce, and to seek to introduce measures that may increase the number who rise to senior positions in universities, institutes, public and professional bodies, business and industry.

The Working Group, led by Professor Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell, has launched a call for evidence and the Society is seeking input from academia, business, industry, Government, interest groups and members of the public to inform this important project. Submissions are welcomed as soon as possible, and before 19 August.

Key questions

This call for evidence seeks input in the form of ideas, evidence and suggestions from all organisations and individuals with an interest in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

Some topics that you may wish to comment on are listed below. These are by no means exhaustive, and we welcome comments on other issues that you believe should be considered:

Please email submissions to Jacki Bell at jacki.bell@ice.org.uk or send directly to cwallace@royalsoced.org.uk. If you would like to make a postal submission, please send to: Dr Caroline Wallace, The Royal Society of Edinburgh, 22-26 George Street, Edinburgh EH2 2PQ.

Please limit submissions to a maximum of six pages.

Inquiry process

Attracting and retaining more women in the STEM workforce to boost economic growth is a public policy challenge which demands public, private and third sector solutions.

The Working Group will take evidence from experts in the field, STEM practitioners and employers, and engage with stakeholders during the process through specific discussion fora. A formal written consultation will take place during the summer with a final consultation event in October, arranged with the Foundation for Science & Technology. This will review the evidence and recommendations in the RSE report and will involve experts familiar with relevant evidence; representatives of the STEM base and those with executive responsibility in business, institutes, universities and colleges that employ STEM graduates. The Working Group will publish its final report in November which will provide reasoned recommendations to those who have a key interest in STEM such that the full potential of women in science can be harnessed more effectively.

The project is being led by Professor Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell FRS FRSE (Visiting Professor of Astrophysics at the University of Oxford).