STEM Workforce: Diversity and Inclusion

2. What steps her Department is taking to help increase diversity and inclusion in the STEM workforce.

10. What steps her Department is taking to help increase diversity and inclusion in the STEM workforce.

The science and technology framework sets out our commitment to expanding STEM—science, technology, engineering and maths—opportunities to the most diverse range of people possible. We have acted swiftly to identify and dismantle any barriers to entry. As a result, we have seen major improvements in recent years, although there is always more to do.

Today is National Numeracy Day. In my constituency, which is one of the poorest, all seven wards fall into the lowest numeracy ranking in the UK. What is the Minister doing to ensure that people in constituencies like mine are not locked out of jobs in STEM by a skills gap that does not recognise the disadvantages they face?

The hon. Lady raises a very important point on National Numeracy Day. While we must not be complacent, the Government have made outstanding progress on equality for all. I hope she will join me in congratulating teachers in her constituency, and up and down the country, on the fact that last year, under this Government, girls made up 52%—a majority—of all science entries at A-level.

The Institute of Cancer Research has made positive steps on diversifying representation in STEM through its apprenticeship scheme. Can the Minister say what, if any, lessons he is taking from that very positive initiative, in particular to increase representation in respect of ethnic diversity?

I congratulate the Institute of Cancer Research on that progress. I would be delighted to meet the institute and hear what development it is making, as would my hon. Friends. This Government have increased the number of apprenticeships. Unfortunately, under the Opposition’s proposals the number of apprenticeships would halve.

Inclusion and diversity in STEM will be greatly increased and helped by the £6 million that Sir James Dyson has recently given to Malmesbury Primary School in my constituency, as well as by the STEM college he has locally. He has made it plain that it is available to all and that he intends to make sure that everyone in the town of Malmesbury and the surrounding area benefits from it.

I commend my hon. Friend and Sir James Dyson for that initiative. It would be wonderful to see many more such initiatives across the whole country. My colleagues and I would be delighted to work with any philanthropists seeking to do something similar.

On National Numeracy Day, will my hon. Friend take the opportunity to praise the work of universities, such as the University of Birmingham, Imperial College London and Loughborough University, that go out of their way to attract women on to engineering courses?

We are enormously blessed in this country with the quality of our universities, so many of which, together with the firms that sponsor undergraduate and postgraduate research, are making magnificent efforts in the important area of diversity in STEM.

I call the shadow Minister.

The Secretary of State says she wants to ensure that

“brilliant people can contribute and succeed, irrespective of their background.”

That is only right, but given that only 16% of practising engineers are women, it is like trying to play premiership football with half our players barred from the pitch. Can the Minister explain why not one of his major science strategies—the life sciences vision, the national AI strategy, and the UK science and technology framework—features an equality impact assessment? We have no idea whether those strategies are helping to break down barriers or not. The Secretary of State’s war on woke has so far cost the taxpayer tens of thousands of pounds and delivered only damage limitation. Why can the Minister not fight for our scientists and engineers instead?

As the hon. Lady well knows, diversity, STEM education and skills are at the heart of the UK science and technology framework, and we will be publishing skills frameworks for each of its priority areas.