Happy Ada Lovelace Day!

The second Tuesday in October – today – is Ada Lovelace Day, an international celebration of women in science, technology, engineering and maths. Augusta Ada King, Countess of Lovelace, to give Ada her full title, was born in 1815 and is considered to be the first computer programmer. A gifted mathematician, she received instruction from an early age from a series of noted scholars, including Mary Somerville, a Scottish astronomer and mathematician who was one of the first women to be admitted into the Royal Astronomical Society.

Ada Lovelace day aims to highlight the contributions of women across the STEM fields, and encourage and inspire girls and women to pursue study and careers in science and technology. This is important for a number of reasons. The majority of women with qualifications in STEM subjects do not work in STEM areas; 73% of female graduates do not go on to have a career in STEM. This is a huge waste of women’s skills, talent and contribution, which is bad for women, and bad for Scotland’s economy. STEM occupations see some of the most significant patterns of occupational segregation, and it is no accident that this corresponds to some of the highest skills shortages. Work to enable women to participate fully in STEM study and careers has the potential to plug this gap and stimulate innovation, productivity and economic growth.

But how do we encourage women to work in STEM? Gender stereotyping works covertly and overtly from a young age to set out that science is for boys, not for girls. The tech sector in particular has long been a hostile environment for women, with many women working there experiencing sexism on a regular basis. We have also seen recent media coverage of the scale of sexual harassment and gender violence by UK university staff; with the combination of this and the effects of gender stereotyping throughout the education and skills pipeline, is it any wonder the number of female professors, particularly in STEM subjects, remains so low? Attitudes which allow women to be treated like this contribute to an environment which also allows women to be paid less and passed over for promotion, and the constraints on women’s lives which prevent them from equal participation in the labour market apply in STEM occupations just as much as in others.

And yet, change is possible. The Scottish Government’s Developing the Young Workforce strategy makes specific commitments to address gender segregation in education, with a focus on STEM subjects, and its ‘Returners’ project aims to support women to update their skills and knowledge after taking career break, so they are more able to return to work at the same level, encouraging employers to support and retain these skilled employees. Our own Be What You Want project works in schools to tackle gender stereotyping through building capacity among teachers and young people to identify and challenge it. And, celebrating their ten year anniversary this year, Equate Scotland works to promote, develop and support women in STEM. Their work includes providing career development sessions, delivering training on assertiveness, returning to work and developing employment skills and creating networking opportunities with STEM employers.

Work to address gender stereotyping which sees girls and young women funnelled away from STEM subjects must be combined with work to address sexist attitudes and environments in further and higher education, and in workplaces, which prevent women from making the most of their skills and talents, and staying in these subject areas. Alongside this work must also continue to address women’s wider labour market inequality, including expansion of accessible and affordable childcare, and increasing access to flexible work, particularly in senior and specialist roles – a key problem in the STEM sectors.

In her work, Ada Lovelace theorised a method for a machine to repeat a series of instructions, a process known as looping that computer programs use today. We already have a series of instructions for increasing women’s participation in STEM subjects and careers – we just need to follow them.

Guest Blog: What does decent work mean to women?

Written by Francis Stuart, Research and Policy Adviser for Oxfam Scotland.

‘Work is the best route out of poverty’ or so the saying used to go. Although the risk of poverty is still greater for those without employment, having a job is far from a guaranteed way to lift people above the poverty line.

Underemployment, zero-hour contracts, low-paid self-employment and increasingly insecure, low-paid and precarious work (all of which, other than self-employment, impact more on women than men) seem to be competing with official statistics showing record levels of employment.

Oxfam partnered with the University of the West of Scotland and Warwick Institute for Employment Research to examine what low-paid workers in Scotland prioritise in order to have ‘decent work’, and how far the labour market in Scotland delivers on these priorities.

Crucially, this wasn’t research on low-paid workers but research with low-paid workers.

‘Decent work for Scotland’s low paid workers: a job to be done’ involved more than 1500 people who gave their views about what ‘decent work’ means. The research focused on people with experience in low-wage – and female dominated – sectors such as social care, hospitality and cleaning.

Participants were asked to prioritise a total of 26 factors that make for decent work, resulting in the following top five priorities broken down by the research method used:

While there is a strong degree of consistency in the results, there are also gender differences. This is important – and possibly not surprising – given that women face greater barriers in gaining a foothold in the labour market, are more concentrated in low-paid sectors and occupations, and continue to be paid less for the same work.

Of course, a number of factors beyond gender are likely to impact and intersect on what people prioritise and the full report provides further breakdowns of findings by age, disability status, ethnicity/nationality, contract status, hours status and trade union membership.

However, it seems likely that these headline gender differences reflect the barriers women face in participating in the labour market, such as the need to balance work with additional responsibilities beyond the workplace, such as care – which still disproportionately fall to women.

In contrast, expectations and gender norms based on the traditional ‘breadwinner model’, may explain men’s preferences for regular and predictable but not excessive hours, as well as issues around fair pay.

Despite gender differences, all workers prioritised fairly basic conditions. None of the priorities are unreasonable or extravagant. But the latest labour market data shows that for too many workers Scotland is failing to provide these:

· Job security - 138,000 employees on temporary contracts. 70,000 women and 68,000 men.

· A decent hourly rate - 1 in 5 employees paid less than the voluntary living wage. Two thirds are women.

· A supportive manager - 324,000 adults in work feel their line manager does not support them. No discernible gender differences.

· Paid leave - 118,000 employees do not receive the statutory minimum paid holidays. No gender breakdown available.

· A safe working environment - 88,000 workers report illness caused or made worse by work in the previous twelve months. No gender breakdown available but women are more likely to experience bullying and harassment in the workplace.

Encouragingly, the priorities identified in our research are areas where businesses and policymakers can make a real difference. Our recommendations include: giving the Fair Work Convention a specific role in investigating and improving employment conditions; ensuring public procurement is used to incentivise and reward good employment practices; and the development of strategies to tackle low pay in sectors in which it is endemic.

By working across Government, employers, trade unions and the third sector, Scotland can make progress towards the delivery of decent work for all – but only if it is defined by the women and men that need it most.

EVENTS: Scotland & UK

In this post you will find a selection of up and coming events and programmes relating to gender equality and women's participation in the labour market.

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Close the Gap

Public Sector Equality Duty Training - Gender & Employment

Glasgow: Wednesday 7 Sept 9.30am - 2pm

Venue: IET Glasgow, Teacher Building, Glasgow

Inverness: Monday 12 Sept 10.30am - 3pm

Venue: Eden Court, Inverness

Edinburgh: Friday 16 Sept 9.30am - 3pm

Venue: The Melting Pot, Edinburgh

Dundee: Tuesday 20 Sept 9.30am - 3pm

Venue: Dundee Contemporary Arts, Dundee

FREE

Close the Gap are holding training on their new guidance to help Scottish public authorities meet the public sector equality duty as it relates to gender and employment. The session will focus in particular on the following:

• Gathering, using and publishing employment data;
• Gender mainstreaming;
• Using data to develop equality outcomes;
• Calculating and using gender pay gap information; and,
• Developing an equal pay statement, including occupational segregation information.

Engender will be joining the training in Edinburgh and Dundee to deliver an additional session on gender and service delivery. This will be a participatory session which will inform the development of their new PSED guidance on gender and service delivery. Lunch will be provided.

Book for this event

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Engender

Social Security: Dignified and Respectful?

Wednesday 21st September 17.30 - 19.30

Venue: Edinburgh Central Youth Hostel, Edinburgh

FREE

Come along to this discussion to talk about how gender mainstreaming can lead to a better social security system for all, and what steps the Government should be taking to include women’s voices and experiences. Those with experience of the social security system are encouraged to attend. Open to all women.

Engender can cover travel and childcare costs and anything else that may be required, such as interpreters.

No need to book. Lunch provided.

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EQUATE SCOTLAND

Builing Your Talent Pipeline: internships and Returnships

7 September 09.45 - 13.00

Venue: City of Glasgow College, Riverside Campus, Glasgow

FREE

This half-day seminar aimed at employers in the engineering sector. The event will illustrate how to build your early and mid-career pipeline and support your talent management programme not just for the future, but the present. Participants will hear from employers engaged with Equate Scotland's internship and returnship schemes which exclusively target women – employers who, by widening their talent pools, are already reaping the rewards.

Find out more about this event or Book for this event

Women STEM and the "F" word - A panel discussion and wine reception

23 September 19.00 - 21.00

Venue: Playfair Library Hall - South Bridge, Edinburgh

FREE

Equate Scotland and the University of Edinburgh Chemistry Department are hosting a wine reception and panel discussion on Women in STEM and the feminist case to increase the number of women in the industry.