Published by Gbaf News
Posted on September 19, 2018
8 min readLast updated: January 21, 2026
WISE, the campaign for gender balance in science, technology & engineering, and Amazon,have today launched a new consultation and issued a call for participation from women working in STEM-focused roles, with the goal of creating a roadmap for increasing the number of women working in the innovation economy.
The consultation, also supported by the Lord Ashcroft International Business School, Anglia Ruskin Cambridge, will help inform a Women in Innovation report, combining qualitative and quantitative analysis to help better understand:
Using these findings as a foundation, the report will build a roadmap for policymakers and companies across the UK to increase diversity in tech and develop the next generation of female tech leaders.
“It’s clear that greater diversity in the workplace positively impacts output, business performance and profitability,” said Fiona McDonnell, Director of Consumer Retail, Amazon. “By delivering greater diversity, we can unlock a huge untapped potential and ensure the UK becomes the number one destination for innovation. As such, our aim is for the report to create a roadmap to securing more women in innovation-focused roles by identifying practical actions industry can adopt immediately.”
Throughout the summer, women in STEM-focused careers are invited to tell their story and contribute to the final Women in Innovation report – from those starting out in their careers to women in senior STEM-focused roles. The Women in Innovation report will be published early next year, providing policy recommendations designed to help drive change by addressing barriers and improving the representation of women in innovation.
The report’s recommendations will be supported and overseen by a newly created Women in Innovation Advisory Committee, made up of senior leaders from across industry, including:
The research follows findings from WISE,which show that despite over 860,000 women in the UK working in STEM occupations – 23 per cent of STEM roles in the UK – women only account for 15 per cent of management roles in science, engineering and technology. Additionally, only 26 per cent of STEM companies have reached the voluntary target set in the 2015 Lord Davies review, recommending one third of Board roles in the FTSE 100 are occupied by women.
Helen Wollaston, WISE Chief Executive added: “It is so important that we highlight the huge contribution women make to UK innovation because for too long that contribution has in large part been untold. We’re doing this project to discover the modern day Marie Curies and use their stories to inspire girls to follow in their footsteps.”
WISE, the campaign for gender balance in science, technology & engineering, and Amazon,have today launched a new consultation and issued a call for participation from women working in STEM-focused roles, with the goal of creating a roadmap for increasing the number of women working in the innovation economy.
The consultation, also supported by the Lord Ashcroft International Business School, Anglia Ruskin Cambridge, will help inform a Women in Innovation report, combining qualitative and quantitative analysis to help better understand:
Using these findings as a foundation, the report will build a roadmap for policymakers and companies across the UK to increase diversity in tech and develop the next generation of female tech leaders.
“It’s clear that greater diversity in the workplace positively impacts output, business performance and profitability,” said Fiona McDonnell, Director of Consumer Retail, Amazon. “By delivering greater diversity, we can unlock a huge untapped potential and ensure the UK becomes the number one destination for innovation. As such, our aim is for the report to create a roadmap to securing more women in innovation-focused roles by identifying practical actions industry can adopt immediately.”
Throughout the summer, women in STEM-focused careers are invited to tell their story and contribute to the final Women in Innovation report – from those starting out in their careers to women in senior STEM-focused roles. The Women in Innovation report will be published early next year, providing policy recommendations designed to help drive change by addressing barriers and improving the representation of women in innovation.
The report’s recommendations will be supported and overseen by a newly created Women in Innovation Advisory Committee, made up of senior leaders from across industry, including:
The research follows findings from WISE,which show that despite over 860,000 women in the UK working in STEM occupations – 23 per cent of STEM roles in the UK – women only account for 15 per cent of management roles in science, engineering and technology. Additionally, only 26 per cent of STEM companies have reached the voluntary target set in the 2015 Lord Davies review, recommending one third of Board roles in the FTSE 100 are occupied by women.
Helen Wollaston, WISE Chief Executive added: “It is so important that we highlight the huge contribution women make to UK innovation because for too long that contribution has in large part been untold. We’re doing this project to discover the modern day Marie Curies and use their stories to inspire girls to follow in their footsteps.”
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