A lecturer from Edinburgh Napier made her voice heard this week by quizzing government ministers on the underrepresentation of women in science.
Siobhán O’Connor, from the School of Health and Social Care, travelled to Westminster to represent the Young Academy of Scotland and the Royal Society of Edinburgh at Voices of the Future 2018.
This event, organised by the Royal Society of Biology, is aimed at offering young research leaders the opportunity to discuss the future of science policy in the UK with senior political figures at the Houses of Parliament.
After being welcomed by the Speaker of the House of Commons, Siobhán and her colleagues began their first session with newly-appointed Universities, Science, Research and Innovation Minister, Sam Gyimah. The MP was quizzed on topics such as childhood vaccinations and the impact of Brexit on research and funding, and Siobhán was given the chance to voice her own question about the underrepresentation of women in science, in spite of the increasing uptake of STEMM subjects by girls at school.
She asked: “How can we fix this ‘leaky pipeline’ and ensure that women not only have role models in science but equal representation at all levels?”
Mr Gyimah responded that the statistics were disappointing, as only 51 per cent of women that have a STEMM degree go on to pursue a STEMM career. He emphasised that attracting and retaining the best talent was essential to the UK economy and that the government’s industrial strategy was taking steps to address the lack of female participation in science through the UK Research and Innovation Council who run programmes aimed at increasing diversity in the STEMM workforce.
Siobhán also posed a question to Dr Rupert Lewis, who leads the Government Office for Science, asking how science policy is coordinated across the UK, given the existence of devolved administrations. Dr Lewis explained that ministers and Chief Scientists across the UK discuss key issues on a regular basis to ensure a coordinated response and a common set of infrastructures are in place to enable excellent science collaboration.
The day also saw sessions led by Chi Onwurah, Shadow Minister for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, and MPs from the Science & Technology Committee.
Taking part in the event allowed Siobhán and the other young scientific leaders to experience the inner workings of Parliament and speak to key decision makers, enabling them to develop their professional careers and ensure they know how to influence science policy.
The event took place on 13 March and was streamed live on Parliament TV. You can watch the catch-up video of the whole event here.
