The union is sponsoring an event called ‘Is STEM for girls?’ in Aberdeen on Saturday 3 May.

Exclusively for female students between 11 and 18 years of age, it aims to encourage them to make an early decision to become professionals in STEM disciplines in the future.

The May event will feature speakers from the engineering and science industries, engineering experiments, networking and Q&A sessions.

Prospect’s campaign calls on the government to set an example to other employers by:

• supporting mentoring schemes that stop women being isolated in workplaces
• taking action to remove barriers to part-time working
• creating a cabinet level science minister with a brief to increase the proportion of women working in STEM from 13% to 30% by 2020.

These calls were included in a Prospect charter for women in STEM.

The union also produced a Prospect Pioneers 2014 calendar to celebrate women working in male-dominated industries and help inspire the next generation to consider a career in STEM.

The UK's biggest business organisation, the CBI, argues that key economic sectors are facing a ‘skills crunch’, especially for technicians. A CBI/Pearson survey suggests that 42% of UK organisations faced difficulties recruiting individuals with STEM skills and knowledge last year.

Prospect believes that encouraging more women into these areas will narrow that skills gap and improve the UK economy.

The CBI is calling for government to cut tuition fees for some STEM subject courses, and for better training for existing workers to make careers in STEM more attractive.

The STEM event will be held on Saturday 3 May from 1pm-4pm at Smithfield Campus, 13 Smithfield Road, Aberdeen AB24 4NR. For further details, see the event flyer.

The event is jointly sponsored with The Institution of Engineering and Technology, WISE and JJLEAP.

For more on Prospect’s work on women in STEM, see www.prospect.org.uk/select_an_industry/science/women/index.