Tackling the Gender Imbalance: The UKESF is Getting More Girls into Electronics

Today marks ‘International Day of Women and Girls in Science’, declared by the UN in 2015 to advocate full and equal access to science for women and girls, as well as supporting gender equality and empowerment.

Women make up just 12% of the engineering workforce in the UK, and only 24% of girls report that they would consider pursuing a career in the sector (EngineeringUK, 2020). Tackling the gender imbalance in Electronics is a strategic priority for the UKESF, which is why we are delighted to announce a new partnership with the CSA Catapult.

“Today we are announcing a massive scaling-up of Girls into Electronics,” said Stew Edmondson, CEO of the UKESF.

“Building on the success of our course in 2021, we are planning to hold ‘Girls into Electronics’ events at 10 of our partner universities, right across the UK. With the support of the CSA Catapult we expect to host around 400 female sixth form pupils this summer. This will be a fantastic opportunity to showcase Electronics and encourage more girls to study the subject at university.”

“We are lucky enough to employ many fantastic female engineers at CSA Catapult and we are delighted to be able to offer our support to the 'Girls into Electronics' scheme. We hope that with great initiatives like this one, it will encourage young women to pursue STEM subjects and careers. We look forward to supporting this scheme developed by the UKESF and the goal to reach over 400 potential female engineers of the future,” said Alexandra Leadley, Skills Academy Manager at CSA Catapult.

“It is tremendously rewarding for Aston University to work on this project with the UKESF. Electronics is such an important sector in the UK and globally, and requires core skills such as innovation, creativity and analysis. We have created material to support many more girls and roll out the hands-on activity across the country. It is great to see the UKESF taking a lead in this area to maximise the impact and reach,” said Prof Kate Sugden, Deputy Dean at Aston University.

“We are really looking forward to hosting the UKESF’s 'Girls into Electronics' at Royal Holloway this summer. The College has a distinguished history in the education of women and it is our ambition to encourage and welcome more females into the discipline of engineering!” said Dr Steve Alty, Head of Electronic Engineering, Royal Holloway.

Applications open today – click HERE to find out more and apply.

Girls into Electronics 2022 host universities: Aston University, University of Bath, Cardiff University, Heriot-Watt University, Imperial College London, University of Liverpool, Newcastle University, Royal Holloway, University of Sheffield, University of Southampton