Women in STEM Action Plan

Increasing the number of women in STEM is at the heart of the Department for the Economy’s Vision for a 10x Economy.

The gender imbalance in the STEM workforce is an increasingly urgent issue, both economically and socially; not just in Northern Ireland, but across the UK and beyond. Research by Matrix and others has demonstrated that if we are to reach our full economic potential we must create an environment that encourages women and girls to study and take up careers in science and technology. In the context of Northern Ireland’s post-Covid recovery, we now need to act quickly to ensure we can meet our ambition.

This Action Plan brings forward the DfE’s proposals and sets out its plans for action. It is informed by and builds on the outstanding work already done by the Matrix panel, which originally identified particular issues around gender imbalance in the manufacturing and engineering workforce in the 2016 AMME report.

Matrix then went on to carry out a detailed study of the issue across all STEM sectors, culminating in the 2018 Women in STEM report. The paper also builds on the work already being done by Matrix, as well as a range of other excellent organisations working across NI to raise awareness of the issues the DfE wants to
tackle.

The DfE is grateful to Dr Bryan Keating CBE and Professor Eileen Harkin- Jones OBE for leading the Women in STEM Steering Group and for the significant work that the whole group has undertaken in codesigning this paper. Their support, insight and experience has been invaluable throughout the process and the fresh thinking and creativity they have brought to the work has been vital.

The main objective of this plan is to show how addressing the underrepresentation of women in “In Demand STEM Skills” – those science and technology skills which underpin the Vision for a 10x Economy – is critical to achieving the DfE’s overall ambition.