Industry

Industry site visits

A shortage of qualified people and the increasing demand for scientific and engineering skills is affecting the UK’s productivity, competitiveness and level of achievement in the high-technology sector. Women still only account for just below 20% of the workforce within science, engineering and technology (SET) sectors, and there are currently 50,000 women with SET qualifications or experience who are not working in these areas. Following on from the success of the academic site visit scheme, the Institute is working with partners, including the UK Resource Centre (UKRC) for Women in SET and the Royal Society of Chemistry, to examine the gender culture within such workplaces.

A pilot visit was conducted at Rolls-Royce in October 2006: five focus groups were held with female staff, female senior and middle management, male staff, male middle managers and male senior managers. The topics included flexible working, barriers to women’s progression, paternity leave and maternity leave. Based on the results of the UKRC/Institute visit, the Global head of Purchasing at Rolls-Royce has agreed to set up a Global Purchasing Diversity Council to look at and address the actions from the site visit.

A dissemination session was held at the Institute in June 2007, which included a talk from the Diversity Director at Rolls-Royce, UK, Karen Brown, who spoke about the positive impact the scheme had had on the organisation.  The new good practice guide: “SET Workplace Cultures: Making a Positive Impact” can be obtained by going to the UKRC website

^ To the top ^