The Government has outlined steps it is taking to improve the gender balance of STEM apprenticeships.
In England, women have accounted for over half of apprenticeship starts in recent years. However, only a small proportion of those embarking on STEM apprenticeships are women. In 2016/17, just 8.2 per cent of STEM apprenticeship starts were women.
To address the imbalance, the Government is undertaking a range of measures. This includes taking part in the Year of Engineering 2018 and use of the Education and Skills Funding Agency’s (ESFA) Apprenticeship Diversity Champions Network (ADCN).
Since being established last year, the ADCN has advocated activity around championing women in STEM apprenticeships to address this issue, including developing best practice to share across employers.
The Government is also taking action to improve careers advice. Working with employers, the Government is taking action to help inform the decisions girls make about their future education and career choices. As part of this work, the Government is undertaking work to assess the breadth and effectiveness of current careers provision in schools and colleges on STEM, and evaluating approaches to careers provision to encourage girls to consider jobs in STEM industries.
Meanwhile, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has spearheaded the STEM Ambassador programme, which sees over 30,000 professionals give presentations, mentoring and careers talks to inspire young people, are raising awareness of STEM careers among women.