Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal, Patron of the WISE (Women into Science and Engineering) Campaign, joined the organisation to meet leading women from the Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) sector to champion inclusive workplaces for women – and to celebrate 40 years of WISE moving the dial towards gender parity in the sector.
Taking place at IET London: Savoy Place, at WISE’s annual conference, Her Royal Highness took part in a photo with leading women across the STEM industry and EDI champions from the likes of Amazon, AtkinsRéalis, AstraZeneca, BAE Systems, Fluor, Jaguar Land Rover and Natwest. She met with WISE members and conference exhibitors and spoke with attendees on the history of the organisation and its mission to pioneer gender equity in STEM.
The high-profile event looked at how organisations and leaders can develop an inclusive environment for women to thrive at work, ultimately enabling businesses to move closer to gender parity in the sector. WISE and expert speakers from the Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) field explored four key areas that directly contribute to this goal: Allyship, Progression, Leadership and Programmes.
With 26% of women making up the current STEM workforce* this remains the biggest and largest untapped talent pool for engineering, science and technology – and as the engineering skills deficit widens, WISE wants to increase the pace of change. During the conference, WISE launched its new Gender Equity Framework, which supports organisations in identifying areas of improvement and enables them to form a solid plan to start or improve their EDI journey.
Dr Laura Norton, WISE Managing Director said: “For over 40 years, WISE has been at the forefront of advancing EDI in the UK, working to achieve gender parity across STEM fields through research, outreach, and collaboration with both organisations and individuals. The Princess Royal’s attendance highlights the significance of our mission and reinforces our commitment to supporting women in STEM – past, present, and future. We were delighted to welcome Her Royal Highness to our event, and we would like to thank her for her continued support.”
Speakers included researcher and broadcaster Kate Bellingham, Leonardo’s Head of Capability Fiona Clark and leading Diversity, Equity and Inclusion voice Dr Zaheer Ahmad MBE, plus exhibitions from AWE, Inclusion365, STEM Learning and STEM Returners.
As Patron since 2000, HRH The Princess Royal has attended many WISE events throughout the years including its 2022 WISE COVID Unsung Heroes Awards and the online celebration of the WISE 1 of the Million campaign.
As well as the WISE conference, WISE’s products include its ‘Ten Steps Programme’, ‘My Skills My Life Programme’, and WISE Awards.
