Firstly, let’s start off by saying, there is no such thing as a job for a woman in STEM, any more than there is a job for a man in STEM; as long as you have the relevant qualifications and skills then your sex should not matter. However, it is a fact that women are hugely underrepresented within STEM-related industries. According to the WISE Campaign, women make up 26.3% of the workforce in 2022. This is a 4.3% increase over 4 years but, clearly, a step change is needed to reach parity in STEM.
When you break down the numbers further, the picture doesn’t get much better. Only in Science do women make up more than a quarter of the entire workforce.
- Engineering professionals – 12.4%
- Science professionals – 48.9%
- Science and engineering technicians – 29.5%
- Science Engineering and Tech Management – 18.1%
- IT professionals – 18.8%
- IT technicians – 21.9%
*All data from WISE 2022
The issue of gender inequality in STEM is well documented and is being addressed by a number of initiatives across the country. STEM Women are contributing to this effort: its events are designed to create a community of women and non-binary students and graduates, where they can connect with employers across STEM industries, raise their aspirations and find out about new opportunities.
Well paid jobs for women
According to the Employee Earnings in the UK survey by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the average annual salary in the UK in 2022 was £33,000. The average graduate salary in the UK is £24,000 according to Save the Student. When looking across the board, STEM is a well-paid industry and is considered a wealth generator, which is why governments and industry pay so much attention to the current skills shortage.
The average salary for STEM careers in the UK
Below, we outline the average salary for a number of popular STEM jobs. Remember these are only averages and take into account remuneration from all levels of roles. These numbers are not necessarily starting salaries. How much you will get paid varies enormously due to a number of factors such as location, your degree classification and university, your experience, industry trends and your ability to negotiate a salary.
- Civil engineer – £50,702
- Chemical engineering – £49,584
- Bioscience – £36,731
- Scientist – £43,601
- Statistician – £49,876
- Electrical engineering – £43,233
- Data analyst – £47,488
- Software engineer – £61,171
- Physicist – £48,167
- Lab technician – £29,287
- Pharmacy – £42,740
As we can see, almost every job in the table above is higher than the ONS average salary, so we can say that the earning potential of STEM roles tends to be positive.
Jobs in STEM where women dominate
It might be surprising, but there are some areas of STEM in which women dominate, such as pharmacy and teaching STEM. 62% of pharmacists are women, according to the General Pharmaceutical Council’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion report (2019), and when it comes to teaching STEM subjects, a report by the Royal Society back in 2007 indicated that considerably more women than men have entered this profession in all STEM areas other than physics.
According to the Royal Society, women are not underrepresented in the overall scientific workforce, however, they are highly underrepresented in most senior roles.
While there are some areas of STEM where women are starting to become a majority, many of these roles are within the lower-paying sectors. For example, the average salary for teachers in the UK is £33,162 – only just over the national average which of course includes non-graduates.
