RAE pledges support for government campaign for more women in engineering

Your Life aims to boost female participation in science and engineering by encouraging organisations to work together in a national partnership-led campaign. A number of organisations have signed up to support Your Life including industry, educators, campaigning groups, small businesses, local authorities and bodies representing higher and further education. In supporting the campaign, the Academy has committed to delivering on a number of pledges over the next 12 months. It will use its Engineering Diversity Concordat Group, which brings together the professional engineering bodies, and the employer-led Diversity Leadership Group as vehicles to take forward the campaign's aims. The Academy will also support University Technical Colleges in increasing the participation of girls in STEM and will develop 10 actions for employers to improve the retention and progression of women in the workplace. The Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering is also lending its support to the campaign, through a number of pledges. Commitments include running a UK schools event with industry and academics to engage young women in engineering; developing the global QEPrize Ambassadors network of young engineers to include at least 20% female representation; and ensuring that at least half of the engineers featured on the Create the Future website are women.