Getting Girls in STEM@BITC

"Science is not a boy's game, it's not a girl's game. It's everyone's game. It's about where we are and where we're going” said Nichelle Nichols, former NASA Ambassador and actress. This is what I grew up believing – through school and engineering and even today. Which is why I was so surprised hearing from a 11-year old girl that boys are smarter and should study science, while girls aint supposed to like science. Her friend weighed in that girls have to take care of the house when they grow up, so they don’t need to study science. I was most surprised when a 12-yr old school girl told me – There are less women in STEM jobs because companies don’t want to hire women who would later go on maternity leave. For me, this was a shocking revelation – 10-12 year old girls don’t believe they had an equal right to study science and pursue their dreams when they grow up. Their aspirations are already being curbed by expectations society sets for them.

I interacted with girls from Year 7 as part of BITC’s Getting Girls in STEM event, where a number of business volunteers interacted with girls giving them more exposure to technology and STEM related careers. About 80 girls from 5 schools across Islington borough participated in the event – and interacted with various businesses. I was very excited to be part of the event and share my story – and how science has played an important role in my career. I walked away from the event with a heavy heart – this was not the world I envisaged for young girls. I felt that the initiative for gender parity in leadership roles would be short lived if the next generation of women were not excited about it. Only 13% of STEM jobs are occupied by women today – how will we ever change that?

Businesses are investing significantly in making workplace better for women through a variety of initiatives, including flexible working, unconscious bias training, mentoring and sponsorship support, etc. More than 75% of corporate CEOs currently have gender parity in leadership on their agenda as one of the top 10 issues. BITC has been active in creating a dialogue between businesses and schools to complement the science education. 83% of teachers agree that businesses should have a bigger role to play in providing STEM careers advice to school girls. To maximize the proportion of women in science, businesses will need to invest early – inspiring them to take up STEM education in college and making them aware of future career paths. Increasing the number of women with STEM degrees and jobs will generate a positive feedback loop as we head into the future!