Centres

SET Women - Leicestershire Women in Science Engineering & Technology

e-Book - Introduction

If you are a woman considering a career in science, engineering or technology (SET), you have probably noticed that women are not in the majority in those fields. Whether you're in your A-levels, at university or returning to work, a SET career may look like a lonely or isolating choice for you. This book aims to show you that although women are scattered among a variety of diverse SET careers, we do exist, we love what we do, and we have each taken a different path to get here.

With funding from the UK Resource Centre for Women in Science, Engineering & Technology, women from the University of Leicester and the LeicestHERday Trust combined forces to bring together as many regional women in SET that we could. Lunchtime talks and a public event at the National Space Centre allowed us to meet many wonderful women role models in diverse SET careers who shared their stories with us.

This booklet introduces those motivational women to you. You will notice that the careers highlighted in this booklet are varied and possibly not what you have been led to believe being in SET is all about.

The truth is the SET community is more than the stereotypical 'bearded old boffins in labcoats' you're used to seeing. For SET research and industry to thrive, it needs communicators, managers, technicians, teachers, IT specialists, and mechanics -- as well as scientists and engineers.

Being in SET is about being part of an integrated team all striving to improve the world we live in through knowledge and practical advancements. As we all have witnessed, developments in SET are part of our daily lives, from the latest mobile phones to medicines that can halt diseases. Understanding the everyday relevance of SET and then meeting the people behind the work can help us to realise the humanity of its efforts.

At the time of writing, the UK is in the middle of its 10-year investment framework for Science and Innovation, which includes the recognition that women are underrepresented in SET. In fact, although the UK has the highest percentage of employed women among the major EU countries, women make up only 18.7% of the SET workforce.

Why? Isolation, gender pay gaps, and employers' lack of flexible work schemes that cause women to look elsewhere for employment. The male-dominated SET workplaces are not going to change until more women get in there and balance them out, and the UK Government is committed to helping support this move.

The authors hope that you will meet in the pages of this booklet a SET woman whose story speaks to you, inspires you, answers your questions or simply makes you smile; and that perhaps you will decide to join us as we help discover more about the world and design the future.