HRH The Princess Royal backs campaign to get more girls into science and engineering in Wales

The WISE Celebration of Talented Women brings together ministers, academics, businesses and schools who are backing the Welsh Government commissioned report to address STEM skills shortages by getting more women and girls into science, technology and engineering.”Talented Women for a Successful Wales” was commissioned by Professor Julie Williams, Chief Scientific Adviser for Wales, who will chair a Q&A with industry leaders on the day.

The report highlights challenges in education – which range from few primary school teachers having STEM backgrounds to the poor take-up of girls studying physics and computer science A-Levels – and in the workplace, leading to women working in less than one in six STEM jobs.

Helen Wollaston, chief executive of the WISE campaign which organised the event and which campaigns for gender balance in STEM, said:

“Wales has an impressive number of female scientists in top positions, including the Chief Scientific Adviser and the newly appointed deputy vice chancellor at Cardiff University. They are living proof that choosing science opens doors. Today’s event is an opportunity for us all to work with the Welsh Government, education and industry to get a positive message out to the next generation of girls in Wales and their families, inspiring them to choose science, technology and engineering for a brighter future.”

The report was co-chaired by Professor Karen Holford, newly appointed deputy vice-chancellor of Cardiff University and Professor Hilary Lappin-Scott, senior pro-vice-chancellor of research and innovation at Swansea University. Both universities have plans in place to close their gender gaps which could be worth an extra £8m in research grants in Wales.