Data reveals extent of gender imbalance in STEM jobs, but science is leading the way
Representation of women in engineering and IT remain the lowest of the STEM professions, whilst the imbalance in genders is closing in science roles. That’s according to global leader in talent acquisition and managed workforce solutions, Guidant Global.
In an analysis of gender representation for roles requiring STEM skills worldwide, Guidant identified a concerning lack of women holding roles that require technology, engineering or mathematics skills, indicating that the gender imbalance remains a prevalent issue in these fields. Across roles that require engineering skills, just 20% of the jobs worldwide are filled by women.
This representation increases to 27% for those working in IT across the globe, while 33% of jobs requiring mathematics skills globally are currently held by women.
According to the talent acquisition specialist, jobs requiring science experience – including computer, environment and data science – are currently seeing the best balance in gender representation of women, with almost half (46%) of roles held by women.
Simon Blockley, CEO of Guidant Global commented on the analysis:
“It’s really encouraging to see the gender imbalance closing in science related jobs worldwide, but the result of our analysis highlight that more still needs to be done. With a growing shortage of STEM talent affecting much of the globe, it’s crucial that more women are encouraged into a career in technology, engineering and mathematics related jobs, but with limited role models, emerging generations of women are unlikely to pursue this route. However, employers can tackle this to some degree by carefully planning how they recruit and ensuring equality, diversity and inclusion (ED&I) is at the foundation of their talent supply chain.
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“Any company that is sourcing people resources for your business must be aligned with your own ED&I strategy, as they are acting as a go-between for your employer brand and the people that your firm needs to succeed and grow. If businesses are to tackle gender imbalance, they need to be engaging with organisations in the supply chain that are equally as committed to addressing this issue.”
