Diversity and inclusion in STEM

The Government should, in its response to this Report, tell us how it plans to monitor, evaluate and report on progress in delivering “in-house STEM capability” across public services, including the NHS and schools.

The benefits of raising levels of diversity and inclusion in STEM education, research settings and workplaces were highlighted by many contributors to our inquiry. The Government, UKRI, other research funders, industry and the education sector have led and participated in many worthy inquiries, reports and initiatives. Yet progress has been limited at best. The status quo must not be accepted by those with the ability to drive change. It is not simply a legacy problem that will fade as society becomes more diverse. Action must be taken that truly moves the dial. The Government should make improving diversity and inclusion in STEM—and indeed in all aspects of society—a central part of its day-to-day activities and future agenda. It’s not just good for business, it is fundamentally about being fair, and doing the right thing. The education and research sectors must follow the Government’s lead and take a systemic approach to the challenge, making the STEM ecosystem in the UK a beacon of good practice when it comes to addressing under-representation.

Improved data collection and the application of lessons from it are key to addressing under-representation. We welcome the biannual Research and Innovation workforce survey being led by BEIS, and the Government’s recognition of the need to better capture the diversity challenge on the basis of characteristics other than gender— such as ethnicity, disability, sexuality, and socio-economic background. A survey can, however, only ever provide a snapshot, whilst concerted, targeted action would be better informed by a longitudinal study. The Government should set out how it plans to make the Research and Innovation workforce survey meaningfully useful across different departments, non-departmental bodies and the wider STEM sector. The forthcoming results must be accompanied by an action plan, and the survey should have the ability to undertake analysis by STEM occupation built in. (Paragraph 33) STEM education in schools

All children should be able to see themselves in what they learn from an early age. The national curriculum and exam subject specifications should be kept under review and updated where it is appropriate to the context to include more diverse examples, such as female scientists.

The careers advice and support pupils receive from the earliest years must promote diverse and inclusive role models. Just as it is desirable for children to see themselves in what they learn, they should also see themselves in who they aspire to emulate. The Government should consider how best to support schools and existing programmes, such as STEM Ambassadors, Speakers for Schools, and the Careers and Enterprise Diversity and inclusion in STEM 51 Company, to ensure children access a diverse range of role models from research or industry. Careers advice guidance and support should also be regularly reviewed to ensure they reflect a full range of diverse examples.

The data on STEM subject uptake and attainment at GCSE and A-level paints a complex picture. There are clear differences between boys and girls, with the latter seemingly less inclined to pursue STEM subjects than the former. The evidence our inquiry received offered no consensus as to the reasons for this difference— preference, consideration of future career prospects, and greater conservatism on the part of boys being suggested causes.

The picture between and within different ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds is similarly complex, however, pupils from some backgrounds, such as Black Caribbean, are clearly underrepresented across STEM subjects at both GCSE and A-level. Others, such as pupils from Chinese backgrounds, are often well- represented.

Access, or lack of it, to the separate study of biology, chemistry and physics at GCSE—known as the ‘triple science’ option—is a decisive factor for many pupils in determining whether they study STEM subjects at university and enter the STEM workforce. If the pool of students studying triple science lacks diversity, this will be reflected in STEM settings later in life. The Government should in its response to this Report tell us how it intends to ensure more pupils have access to triple science, or how else it proposes to overcome barriers to pursuing an interest in STEM faced by pupils from certain backgrounds.

We welcome Ofsted’s recent report examining science education in primary and secondary schools. However, some contributors to our inquiry suggested that given the importance of inspection, it could do more to encourage diversity and inclusion in STEM education.

The Government should tell us whether it has consulted with Ofsted on levels of uptake and attainment among different groups of children, and whether it has discussed an expansion of its inspection criteria to include a more comprehensive picture of subject take-up and attainment across different disciplines and characteristics.

Ofsted should, as part of its inspection criteria, gather data and report on levels of subject take-up and attainment among pupils with different characteristics, such as gender, ethnic background and socio-economic background. The latter could utilise Free School Meals eligibility, which is already used in Government education data. Where there are disparities, schools should record and be assessed against the steps they are taking to make subject take-up more representative.

The Government should in its response to this Report set out how it intends to deliver on the Prime Minister’s stated ambition. (Paragraph 88) 52 Diversity and inclusion in STEM

We recommend as an alternative to compulsion the introduction of a requirement for pupils who do not continue with a STEM subject post-16 to take the Advanced Mathematical Support Programme or a Core Science course. Core Science could be developed using the same applied principles as Core Maths and the Advanced Mathematical Support Programme.

There are clear benefits when children are taught by teachers with qualifications, professional experience, or specialism in those subjects. The Government should set a target for every child to be taught STEM subjects by teachers with qualifications in that subject by the end of the decade. Teachers should be given access to improved, mandatory continuous professional development to ensure their knowledge remains up to date—which is particularly important in STEM subjects where there are new discoveries and developments on a regular basis.

STEM teacher salaries must be as competitive as possible with the private sector, and we welcome the new STEM-focused bursaries and wider efforts by the Government to recruit and retain STEM teachers. However, we do not think the amounts currently on offer will prove anywhere near sufficient to address longstanding shortages, particularly in subjects such as computer science and physics. The fact that such a significant proportion of current university graduates in STEM subjects would be needed to address the shortfall underlines the scale of the challenge.

The Government should assess the impact of further salary increases on recruitment targets for STEM subjects with particularly acute shortages; and detail its findings in its response to this Report. It should also tell us what further interventions are planned for subjects where recruitment targets are unlikely to be met, whether it has undertaken any assessment of the impact that increased numbers of STEM graduates from university courses would have of teaching workforce shortages, and whether it has any plans to grow the number of STEM graduates entering the teaching workforce.

We welcome the Government’s nationwide roll-out of a scheme with the engineering sector, designed to increase the number of Initial Teacher Training recruits with industry experience. The scheme should, subject to evaluation, be expanded to bring more STEM professionals into classrooms to help teach other subjects where there are shortages.

The Government should consider what support it could offer to initiatives such as Now Teach, which draw upon experienced professionals to help meet STEM teacher recruitment challenges and to inspire a more diverse range of pupils to continue with STEM subjects. (Paragraph 113) STEM research institutions

The Government, UK Research and Innovation and other research funders should make funding available for research facilities undertaking reasonable adjustments to ensure they are fully accessible. (Paragraph 127) Diversity and inclusion in STEM 53

Some STEM researchers face a discriminatory working environment. Whilst this reflects inequities that exist elsewhere in society it is nevertheless a source of deep concern. The process of reducing and ultimately ending such prejudice will not be swift but is vitally important.

Our inquiry received evidence that highlighted the importance of addressing as a matter of urgency the precarious nature of many contracts in STEM academia. We examined these issues in greater depth as part of our inquiry into reproducibility and research integrity.

We welcome the move towards alternative processes such as narrative CVs and hope to see them become the norm in STEM research funding calls, subject to evaluation.

UKRI must use the publication of its Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) strategy, and the multi-year funding settlement from Spring Budget 2022, as a launchpad to promote diversity and inclusion across the research sector. The final version of UKRI’s EDI strategy must set out a timetable to implement processes to determine, monitor, publicly report against, and ultimately meet targets to reduce underrepresentation in funding awards and decision-making bodies, including its leadership and Research Council Committees panels/boards.

Guidance to all Research Council staff should include a specific requirement to ensure representative Committees—for example, greater diversity could be achieved by appointing on potential, rather than on past achievements.

STEM-related roles are an important part of the UK labour market, and just as is the case in other workplaces, the benefits of improved diversity and inclusion are clear, for employers and employees alike. The path to achieving this is not necessarily STEM-specific, but is rather likely to require a concerted, long-term effort across the entire workforce.

In its response to this Report, the Government should detail how the newly-created Department for Science, Innovation and Technology intends to drive greater levels of diversity and inclusion across the UK’s STEM sectors. (Paragraph 153) 54 Diversity and inclusion in STEM