IChemE to support the WISE campaign

The Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE) has become a Corporate Member of WISE – a UK campaign organisation dedicated to inspiring young women to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM).

WISE has a ‘mission is to push the presence of female employees from 13 per cent to 30 per cent by 2020, boosting the talent pool to drive economic growth’.

WISE’s patron is Her Royal Highness, The Princess Royal, and the campaign is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year. Its activities include the annual WISE Awards, which recognise the work of organisations and individuals to promote STEM to girls and young women.

IChemE joins several other organisations in the chemical and process industries that already support the campaign including Fluor, British Sugar, and Atkins.

IChemE has made good progress in recent years to improve the gender balance of people entering the chemical engineering profession. Overall, around 35 per cent of IChemE’s global student members are female.

IChemE members in Malaysia currently top the gender balance list with women accounting for 49 per cent of chemical engineering student members. New Zealand (40 per cent), Australia (35 per cent) and Singapore (31 per cent) also post strong performances for women studying the profession.

The data for UK and Ireland is lower at 28 per cent, but well above average for typical STEM careers.

Dr Alana Collis, IChemE’s technical policy manager and diversity lead, said: “We are very pleased to become a Corporate Member of WISE and support their important work.

“In addition to fairness and equality, and a general culture change around gender, there are some important business and skills shortage issues to resolve which can be addressed by encouraging more women to pursue STEM careers in the UK.

“The CBI’s latest skills survey¹ indicates that 39 per cent of businesses are struggling to recruit workers with the advanced, technical STEM skills they need, and 41 per cent state shortages will persist for the next three years.”

“We would encourage other organisations in the chemical and process industries to join WISE and lay the foundations for a balanced, available and talented workforce in the future.”

In 2014 already, IChemE has pledged its support to the Your Life campaign and published a ten point action plan² to help improve diversity in the chemical and process industries.