Following the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, a new initiative has been launched to help people return to science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) careers.

The scheme, led by the Minister for Women and Equalities Kemi Bandenoch and backed by £150,000 of government funding, will be run by Women Returners and STEM Returners, and will target those who have taken lengthly career breaks to care for others, in a bid to give them skills they’ll need to succeed in the workplace.

Minister for Women and Equalities, and Secretary of State for Business and Trade, Kemi Badenoch MP, said:

“In the last decade we have seen more girls studying STEM subjects at school and university, but we know that too many women later drop out of those careers because they need to care for children or elderly relatives.

“We are investing in returners so we can plug the STEM gap, increase workplace equality, and boost our economy. That’s good business sense.”

The number of women in STEM has been steadily dwindling. Between 2009 and 2020, there was a near 30% increase in girls starting STEM A-levels in England, and between 2011 and 2020, the number of women accepted to full-time STEM undergraduate courses increased by 50.1% in the UK.

In 2020, however, women only made up 29.4% of the STEM workforce in the UK. While the tech skills gap is wide, the gender gap within it is deeply problematic for the industry.

According to the UK Commission’s Employer Skills Survey 2013, 43% of science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) vacancies are hard to fill.

At the same time, there were approximately 75,000 people who were economically inactive due to caring responsibilities, had not worked for at least 12 months, had a STEM occupation immediately before their career break, and would like to return to work in the future. The majority of these potential returners are women.

Minister for Women, Maria Caulfield MP, said: “We know there are women across the country who have left their jobs to care for elderly relatives or children, and want to return to work.

“This pilot will help organisations to recruit those who are too often overlooked because of a gap on their CV.”

Women Returners, experts in return to work consulting, coaching and networking, will support parents and carers back into the workplace through personalised employability support, sector-specific refresh training, and work opportunities.

The STEM ReCharge pilot will provide support and training to technology and engineering returners in the Midlands and the North of England. It will also provide support and training for STEM employers on supportive returner hiring and inclusive recruitment practices.

There is a pressing need in these regions to provide this job-readiness support tailored to parents and carers returning to STEM, together with training for STEM employers to create more supported routes back to work for career returners,” Julianne Miles, CEO of Women Returners said.

“We’re confident that this comprehensive programme of support will help to accelerate the removal of the career break penalty in the UK.”

However, a poll by People Management in 2021 found that women were more likely to face bias when they attempted to return to STEM jobs after a career break. Further, they also received more negative bias due to childcare responsibilities than men.

Re-training women may only be half the problem, but re-skilling initiatives are becoming widespread across the UK to address the overwhelming tech skills shortage.

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Natalie Desty, Director of STEM Returners, said: “We are delighted to be supporting the Government Equality Hub in increasing the opportunity for Returners in STEM and lowering the barriers they face when they try to resume their careers.

“This programme will allow us to continue our mission to help create a diverse, inclusive and equitable STEM sector. We are especially delighted to be collaborating on this project with Women Returners, as working together we can achieve more.”

This is just one of the already 25 funded returner programmes the government has launched across the private and public sectors.

£1.5 million has been granted to support projects in the private sector as well as targeting key professions in the public sector, such as social workers and health professionals.

Return to work schemes are a part of Chancellor Hunt’s intentions to transform the British economy. He called on those who retired to re-enter the workforce to help boost the struggling UK economy.

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