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Report on an AAAS forum session where experts brainstormed ways to allow a more diverse community of science and technology innovators. The AAAS forum featured presentations by journal editors, federal funders, and researchers. Editors cited a U.S.-centric bias as a major problem in peer review. Edward Campion, of the New England Journal of Medicine noted, for instance, that countries with fewer resources disproportionately suffer “diseases of poverty,” yet those countries are poorly represented among reviewers, and therefore risk receiving less attention than they deserve. Similarly, at the American Chemical Society (ACS), a large portion of submissions in 2015 came from China and other countries in Asia, but those authors remain somewhat underrepresented in terms of published output, said Heather L. Tierney, managing editor, ACS Publications.  

Despite outperforming men in education, women are under-represented in the STEM workforce.

We commissioned an independent task and finish group to provide us with a report on how we can increase the number of women working in STEM. The report makes recommendations on how we can:

• recruit more women into STEM in the first place
• retain women in the STEM workforce
• encourage women into leadership roles.

The report sets an agenda for everyone with a stake in the future of the STEM workforce. This includes business, educators, and the public sector.  

We have  accepted all 33 recommendations in the Talented Women for a Successful Wales report. The Chief Scientific Adviser for Wales is setting up an internal working group to take forward the recommended actions in the report, involving policy officials from across the Welsh Government, and reporting to Ministers.

The equality duty was developed in order to harmonise the equality duties and to extend it across the protected characteristics. It consists of a general equality duty, supported by specific duties which are imposed by secondary legislation.  In summary, those subject to the equality duty must, in the exercise of their functions, have due regard to the need to:

• Eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation and other conduct prohibited by the Act.
• Advance equality of opportunity between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not.
• Foster good relations between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not.

These are sometimes referred to as the three aims or arms of the general equality duty. The Act explains that having due regard for advancing equality involves:

• Removing or minimising disadvantages suffered by people due to their protected characteristics.
• Taking steps to meet the needs of people from protected groups where these are different from the needs of other people.
• Encouraging people from protected groups to participate in public life or in other activities where their participation is disproportionately low.

The Act states that meeting different needs involves taking steps to take account of disabled people's disabilities. It describes fostering good relations as tackling prejudice and promoting understanding between people from different groups. It states that compliance with the duty may involve treating some people more favourably than others.

The equality duty covers the nine protected characteristics: age, disability, gender reassignment, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation.  Public authorities also need to have due regard to the need to eliminate unlawful discrimination against someone because of their marriage or civil partnership status. This means that the first aim of the duty applies to this characteristic but that the other aims (advancing equality and fostering good relations) do not apply.

This report from the Women’s Business Council builds on their previous work and outlines changes to the Council, including the expansion of the Council and the creation of 5 specific Action Groups focussed on changing business culture to better use the talents of girls and women as they participate in the workforce at every stage of their lives.

The Women’s Business Council believes this country’s future growth and prosperity depends on maximising women’s contribution to the economy. The report outlines the role of the Action Groups and case studies of best practice.

The WBC has:

• helped drive important legislative changes such as Shared Parental Leave and the right to request flexible working;

• raised awareness of the need for tax-free childcare and an older workers’ business champion;

• promoted best practice within companies to tackle the gender pay gap and helped to develop the forthcoming reporting regulations;

• reached a potential audience of 8 million people through active engagement and a potential audience of over 32 million through the media;

• developed practical tools for business by business and been leaders for change;

• harnessed the power of scores of champion advocates to amplify best practice; and,

• published over 150 topical business focussed case studies.

  Creating social change can be slow, but the WBC has steered significant progress in just four years. Shared parental leave, a narrowing gender pay gap, many more women on executive boards, tax breaks for childcare and a swell of business leaders who understand the business case for supporting women in the workplace – these are real and important achievements, and testament to the combined energy, commitment and expertise of the WBC members.