The Pistoia Alliance launches initiative for women in STEM

The Pistoia Alliance has launched a new mentorship programme for women in STEM in steps to support its members’ diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiative.

The not-for-profit announced the programme following results from a survey conducted at its spring conference, in which 47% of respondents said that workplace culture is the biggest barrier for women embarking on a career in STEM. Other findings from the survey included 17% of respondents referencing a lack of childcare/maternity leave as the biggest barrier, an 15% highlighting a lack of female role models in the workplace.  

“While great strides towards equality for women in STEM have been made in the last decade, Covid-19 has threatened to slow this progress. Evidence shows the impact of the pandemic falls more heavily on women in science, and our survey found more than two thirds (68%) of respondents believe women in STEM have been more disadvantaged during the pandemic than their male counterparts. Despite this, during the fight against Covid-19, women have been at the forefront of breakthroughs, including the University of Oxford Covid-19 trials and at BioNTech in the creation of the first RNA-based vaccine,” commented Dr Becky Upton, chief portfolio officer at The Pistoia Alliance.

“We want to help embolden women in STEM careers, facilitate networking, and enable current female STEM leaders to hold open the door for the next generation of scientists. We are now looking to set up a mentorship scheme and are calling on interested companies within our membership to get in touch and help steer the development.”

Analysis from McKinsey echoes Dr Upton’s comments on how the pandemic has impacted women. McKinsey’s research states that women’s jobs have been 1.8 times more vulnerable during the pandemic compared to men’s job.

“While working from home does provide more flexibility, it has also meant in many cases that employees are expected to be accessible for more hours of the day. There is also a strong indication that it has increased care duties for women inordinately more than for men,” continued Dr Upton. “There is a risk that progress could go into reverse if steps to redress the gender equality balance are not taken now. As we return to “normal life” following the pandemic, we must make sure that development in DEI is maintained and that it continues to be a business priority. While individual companies are making headway, this is an area where collaboration will benefit the industry as a whole. Sharing experiences, ideas and best practices will accelerate DEI efforts and bring benefits to every company.”