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IET and WISE join forces to accelerate gender equality in STEM

Open-access content Tanya Weaver — Mon 4 Mar 2024
The recent WISE Awards, which the IET was a headline sponsor. - Uncredited

Women into Science and Engineering (WISE) Campaign, a non-profit organisation focused on gender parity for women in STEM from classroom to boardroom, is now under the ownership of the IET.

It is a well known fact that women only fill a proportionately small percentage of STEM roles in the UK. According to recent government statistics, women make up 29% of the STEM workforce. 

Much has been made about how to tackle this gender inequality. While the number of women in STEM occupations has certainly grown over past decades, there’s still a long way to go.

IET and WISE Campaign have each worked on various campaigns and initiatives focused on increasing diversity in the sector and attracting young women to pursue a STEM career. Now, having joined forces, they feel that together they can increase the pace of change.

“We want to hit at least 35% of UK STEM roles filled by women by 2030,” said Dr Laura Norton, IET head of EDI and new WISE Campaign managing director.

“Together we can increase our impact and drive forward a stronger platform, which builds on the leading products and services we both deliver. This includes WISE Campaign’s Ten Steps Programme and the IET’s role in championing women in the sector through its Young Woman Engineer of the Year Awards,” said Norton.

“This integration represents a huge opportunity for all the individuals, communities and organisations that we both serve. By coming together, we are better equipped with the ambition and the tools to significantly make a difference to the gender balance in the sector to achieve our united goal for 35% of women in STEM roles by 2030. Jointly, we have an incredible track record, heritage and drive to truly move the dial on gender diversity and to advance EDI excellence for the benefit of all,” added Trudy Norris-Grey, chair of WISE Campaign’s board.

While the IET has taken ownership of WISE Campaign, it will continue to operate under its current model, in parallel to the IET, to ensure the two organisations can deliver the biggest impact and value to its members and customers.

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