STEM Returners is a programme dedicated to helping STEM professionals who have taken a career break to re-enter the labour market, helping employers recruit skilled and qualified STEM workers back into the industry.

The programme, which is backed by the Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology, and the Women’s Engineering Society, is focused on helping close multiple gaps in the STEM world, including the diversity gap as well as the overarching skills shortage.

In a report published today, the STEM Returners Index 2023 found that unconscious bias surrounding CV gaps has been holding talented and qualified returners from re-entering the workforce after a break in their careers, dramatically limiting the talent pool companies think is available to them.

The report also found that the current UK engineering workforce is 88% male and 91% white, with few companies taking meaningful actions to attract minority ethnic groups or address the gender imbalance.

Through partnerships with STEM organisations to run returner programmes, providing career coaching and mentoring programmes, and partnering with the Government Equality Hub, STEM Returners has helped over 400 professionals return to work across the UK.

Out of these 400, nearly half (46%) were women, and over a third (34%) are from minority ethnic groups.

Still, recruitment bias is rampant, and tends to affect women and minority ethnic workers the most.

The report surveyed over 1,000 STEM professionals on a career break, and found that women trying to re-enter the engineering industry were more likely to experience recruitment bias than men. Just shy of a quarter (24%) of women said they felt they personally experienced bias in recruitment processes due to their gender compared to just nine percent of men.

In the survey, professionals from minority ethnic backgrounds represented a large proportion (39%) of candidates attempting to return to work in 2023. They were twice as likely as all other ethnic groups (34% vs average of 17%) to feel they have experienced bias in a recruitment process related to race or ethnicity.

Ageism appears to affect returners as well, with both men (29%) and women (25%) saying the felt they have personally experienced bias in recruitment processes due to their age. As a result, 30% of returners say their personal confidence has been affected by the recruitment challenges they face, and their low confidence remains a barrier.

However, the latest results show some progress. In 2022, 29% of women said they felt bias due to their gender (5% more than this year) and overall, 38% of returners felt they had experienced bias in a recruitment process, compared to 33% this year.

In 2022, 65% of participants said they found the process of getting back to work difficult or very difficult, but this year it was just over half (51%) of participants.

Natalie Desty, founder and director of STEM Returners, said that while progress should be celebrated, there was still a lot of work to be done, especially in helping returners who are residents in the UK and eligible to work transfer their valuable skills and experience they acquired internationally.

She said: “For the first year since we launched the STEM Returners Index, we have seen that candidates are finding it slightly easier to return to work than they were this time last year. This is positive news but there are still too many people finding it an uphill battle.

“There are skills gaps across the engineering, tech and green jobs sectors – these gaps are growing, and the UK needs a diverse, agile and innovative STEM workforce more than ever. This talented and committed group of professionals are ready to help fill those roles. But they are still facing recruitment bias against their race, age, gender, and a perceived lack of experience.

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“Women and professionals from minority ethnic backgrounds still face a significant disadvantage when attempting to return. People from minority ethnic backgrounds were 50% percent more likely than White British candidates to say they were finding the process of returning ‘very difficult’. This has to change. Additionally, we are seeing people who have moved to the UK from overseas are finding it difficult to transfer their international skills and experience to UK positions.

“Industry leaders need to do more to update recruitment practices and challenge unconscious bias to give returners a fair chance to rejoin the industry they are passionate about.”

The survey found that only a small proportion (12%) of career breakers stop working out of personal choice. Caring for others (both children and other family members) was a primary reason for a career break for 44% of respondents. Relatedly, 36% of women said they feel they have personally experienced bias in recruitment processes due to childcare responsibilities compared to 8% of men, according to the results.

Despite 86% of respondents having career breaks lasting less than five years, 38% of candidates felt they have received bias related to lack of recent experience, signalling there is a perception that a break leads to a deterioration of skills.

Helping professionals return

When asked if they would have preferred to return to work through a supported returners programme, 40% of returners said yes.

Despite the clear need for structured return to work programmes, only 21% had seen one, and only 16% had returned to work via this route – underlining the need for more STEM employers to think seriously about diversifying their approach to recruitment.