A THIRD OF UK FEMALES INTERESTED IN STEM CAREERS ARE PUT OFF BEFORE LEAVING SECONDARY SCHOOL

 

• 46% OF UK FEMALES AGED 16-24 HAVE CONSIDERED A CAREER IN A STEM INDUSTRY, BUT ONLY 13% ARE IN STEM ROLES TODAY*

 

• 31% OF FEMALES AGED 16-24 BLAME LACK OF ‘REAL-LIFE’ CAREERS EDUCATION FOR THE LACK OF FEMALES IN STEM CAREERS

 

• 23% OF FEMALES AGED 16-24 SAY THE WAY STEM SUBJECTS ARE TAUGHT AT SECONDARY SCHOOL PUT THEM OFF A STEM CAREER

 

• 13% THINK STEM INDUSTRY WORK EXPERIENCE SHOULD BE MANDATORY

 

Debut, the student and graduate careers app has today published a report that reveals the reason why females aged 16-24 are not pursuing career aspirations in STEM industries. The report reveals that despite almost half (46%) of all females considering a STEM career while at school, only 13 percent make it through to fulfilling their plans.

 

The research, which involved 500 females aged 16-24 revealed that their interest in STEM careers ended before leaving secondary school. According to the females asked, the top five ways that secondary schools could fuel their interest in STEM careers more are as follows:

 

1)      Provide ‘real life’ STEM careers education, such as ‘a day in the life of’ videos (31%)

2)      Make STEM subjects more interesting to learn (23%)

3)      Make STEM industry work experience mandatory (13%)

4)      Promote the fact that STEM careers pay better salaries (10%)

5)      Promote the fact that career progression is better in STEM industries (9%)

 

The Debut app, which has been downloaded more than 50,000 times, has seen 88 percent of students register a profile, and from those registered, only 16 percent are females studying or graduating in STEM subjects, compared to 22 percent of males.

 

Since its launch 12 months ago, Debut has showcased 432 STEM roles on the app, however only 34 percent of all applications received were from females.

 

Debut has fast become the recruitment method used by most the UK’s leading graduate employers, includingEY, Microsoft, Barclays, Capgemini, Rolls-Royce, L’Oréal, and General Electric – they benefit from being able to ‘weight’ applications, especially in the STEM industries, to promote equal opportunities.

 

“It would be great to see more STEM employers going into primary and secondary schools, or better still, live streaming direct from their organisations into the classroom, to give young people an insight into what STEM careers involve. Companies would benefit from this time investment in the long-run.”