Over the past 15 years, though some effort has been made to inspire and engage women and girls in pursuing STEM careers, according to the UN they continue to be excluded from participating fully, despite science and gender equality both being vital in achieving the internationally agreed development goals. At present, less than 30 per cent of researchers worldwide are women, and according to UNESCO data, only around 30 percent of all female students select STEM-related fields in higher education. Here in Australia, only 16% of STEM graduates in higher education or VET are women, and 27% of the total STEM workforce is female.

Experts believe that to truly reduce the gender gap, leaders must identify the qualitative factors that deter women from pursuing careers in STEM industries that occur within their own organisation, and seek to rectify these. This will help to establish greater gender diversity within teams and significantly improve economic outcomes, with a study suggesting that upskilling just 1% of the Australian workforce into STEM roles would add $57 billion to Australia’s gross domestic product over 20 years.

The month of February marks the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, so it’s timely to consider what Australia’s STEM employers can do to better support and retain female employees to achieve improved productivity, efficiency and results – not just for individual organisations, but for the industry at large.

Address the pay gap

It is no secret that there is a gender pay gap in Australia, and one that has only been exacerbated since the coronavirus pandemic. However the gender pay gap within the STEM industry is one that is “significant, longstanding and unacceptable” according to Australia’s Chief Scientist Alan Finkel AO. This pay gap is not only a barrier to women entering into the STEM workforce, but also for organisations in retaining high-performing female employees.

Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) data shows a gender pay gap of 12.4 percent within the science field, with female scientists more likely to be over-represented in the lower pay brackets and under-represented in the higher pay brackets at both Graduate and Doctorate levels. This same data also showed comparatively lower retirement savings for females than their male counterparts. Though part of this is due to women taking maternity leave and working part-time to assume family responsibilities, the data shows that a woman in the same role as her male peer will receive a lower salary in most cases.

It will be important to continue to offer females in science the same level of opportunity for advancing their career and salary even if they chose to take leave to start a family.  According to a survey, female respondents working in the industry said the complexity and seniority of the projects they were allocated on return to work after a career break was often significantly less/lower than the type of work they were undertaking prior to the break, and the project work they were offered was often more menial and did not provide opportunities for development. Of these respondents, 68.5 percent said taking maternity leave had been detrimental to their career, while 23.4 percent said they had been sidelined for promotion because they had taken a career break.

For employers, it is important to consider your workplace policies and the biases of managers (unconscious or otherwise) to ensure they address pay discrepancies that are linked to discrimination, that is, based on gender as opposed to experience and merit.

Eliminate unconscious bias during hiring

While the numbers of women and girls undertaking study within the STEM field is less than that of males, it should be recognised that there are unhelpful stereotypes within the industry that will likely be increasing the unconscious bias that occurs within many organisations during the recruitment process. Experiences of bias and stereotyping begin early in life and have a significant impact on women’s ability to secure roles within the STEM industry when moving into their professional career. This, coupled with the perception that some STEM fields are a better fit for males, creates a perfect storm for unconscious bias to occur during the hiring process.

This can result in issues of homogenous hiring, which doesn’t only impact on those women not offered jobs, but also on an organisation and its ability to achieve high-performing results. To avoid instances of unconscious bias, employers can review their recruitment practices, ensuring there is accountability within the process, using gender-neutral language in job ads, and provide training in identifying unconscious biases where needed.

Offer the same recognition and career development opportunities

While of coarse encouraging a greater numbers of women and girls to take on STEM subjects at school and driving greater participation is absolutely critical to developing a sustainable STEM workforce, it is not a solution in itself. The second half of the equation is addressing the attrition of women from the STEM workforce once they get there. According to a 2018 study, some of the biggest contributing factors for women in STEM considering leaving the profession were lack of professional development and opportunity compared with their male counterparts.

Lack of career advancement was identified by 46.2 percent of respondents as the reason for considering leaving their job, while lack of increased challenges and better professional recognition were selected by 38 percent and 26 percent respectively. This demonstrates a resounding desire from female STEM professionals to be recognised and offered professional opportunities equal to their peers.

In this way, it is necessary for organisation’s to ensure diversity issues in the workplace are understood by those in management roles so as to better remove obstacles to merit-based advancement. Furthermore, it will be beneficial to review workplace practices with the aim of eliminating bias in career building activities for women. This includes ensuring access to training and development opportunities such as management training, access to ‘stretch’ projects, formal and informal mentoring and opportunities for networking. Employers can track and measure female employees’ professional outcomes to better understand how effective their diversity strategy is.

Ensure follow through between policy and implementation

Over a third of women in STEM professions said they did not believe their employer had strategies in place to actually implement policies relating to diversity and anti-discrimination, showing there is a disconnect between what organisations say they will do and the action that is actually taken in reality.



While ensuring appropriate diversity, anti-discrimination and sexual harassment policies are in place and that these policies comply with workplace and discrimination legislation, it is apparent that employers will need to consider how they can indeed “practice what they preach”. This will look different for every organisation depending on their workforce, size and practices that are already in place, however it could include providing additional training to employees, or aligning these policies directly with managers’ performance indicators and offering incentives when favourable outcomes are achieved.

If you’re looking for staff within the science industry or assistance in reviewing and developing employment policies, contact us today.