STEM Equals

There is a growing body of scientific literature that suggests women are actively and passively discriminated against in academia, and that the problem is particularly persistent across Engineering and Sciences. For example, in 2012, a study was published where applications that had been randomly assigned a male or female name, were rated for a Physics Laboratory Manager position. Recruitment panels rated the male applicant as significantly more competent and hireable than the (identical) female applicant. They also offered a higher starting salary and more career mentoring to the male. The experiences of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) academics in Science and Engineering are considerably less well-studied than those of women. This may be as result of the extremely low numbers of LGBT staff that are out at work in Science and Engineering Faculties (as compared to the Arts and Humanities). One published study interviewed LGB Engineering students and found that engineering departments were viewed as hostile by the majority of LGB-identifying students and that most navigated this heteronormative engineering climate by 'passing' as heterosexual. The low numbers of openly LGBT staff would suggest that this is a common experience. The STEM Equals project aims to develop initiatives that will improve equality and diversity for female and LGBT staff across the Science and Engineering Faculty at the University of Strathclyde. We will then expand our initiatives to encompass other Faculties, reach out to collaborative research partners in industry and share best practice with other Universities throughout the UK.We will build on existing initiatives, supporting women within the Faculty of Engineering, to develop a comprehensive programme of gender- and LGBT-related equality and diversity activities. We aim to: encompass a broader equality and diversity agenda; fully include the Faculty of Science; develop a joint equality learning experience with key industry-university research partners; undertake research to understand specific challenges and develop new initiatives; reach out to other local Universities and strategic industry partners to share best practice.