Today we announced plans to partner with WISE to launch the Women in Innovation report, which focuses on identifying the barriers to increasing the representation of women in innovation roles. This follows findings from WISE which show that, despite over 860,000 women in the UK working in STEM - 23 per cent of STEM roles in the UK - women account for just 15 per cent of management roles in science, engineering and technology.

The new research will bring together qualitative and quantitative insights from women working in STEM-focused roles, to look at:

  • How and why women in innovation choose their careers
  • The financial contribution women are making to innovation in technology and the benefits it brings to business and the wider economy
  • How language in job descriptions and other written materials can be better used by employers and academic institutions to inspire women’s involvement in science, engineering and technology.
By delivering greater diversity, we can unlock a huge untapped potential and ensure the UK becomes the number one destination for innovation.
Fiona McDonnell, Director, Consumer Retail, Amazon

The report’s recommendations will be supported by a newly-created Advisory Committee, chaired by Director, Consumer Retail at Amazon, Fiona McDonnell, and is made up of senior industry leaders including Dr Helen Finch, Head of Research & Development at Jaguar Land Rover and Mark Stewart, General Manager at Airbus UK.

“It is so important that we highlight the huge contribution women make to UK innovation because, for too long, that contribution has been largely untold. We’re doing this project to discover the modern-day Marie Curies and use their stories to inspire girls to follow in their footsteps,” said Helen Wollaston, WISE Chief Executive.

Our Director of Consumer Retail, Fiona McDonnell, is working to identify where the issues lies: “It’s clear that greater diversity in the workplace positively impacts output, business performance and profitability. By delivering greater diversity, we can unlock a huge untapped potential and ensure the UK becomes the number one destination for innovation. We would like the report to create a roadmap to securing more women in innovation-focused roles by identifying some practical actions.”