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National Day

Tuesday 1st August 2023

#GEMinSTEM


Did you know that people from Global Ethnic Majorities (GEM - Black and ethnically diverse people) are under-represented in the Engineering and Technology industry?

REflect is RS Grass Roots’ annual flagship event, in partnership with AFBE (Association for Black and Minority Ethnic Engineers) and the IET (Institution of Engineering & Technology), focused on diversifying the talent pipeline into the engineering industry.

The event aims to inspire young people from diverse ethnic backgrounds into STEM and enables companies to explore ways to be truly inclusive of their ethnically diverse colleagues.


The National Day

Let's start a movement, together!

We have introduced a National Day to celebrate and recognise the achievements and contributions of #GEMinSTEM.

Celebrate with us on Tuesday 1st August 2023, and use our resources to highlight your #GEMinSTEM champions!



RESOURCES

The Data


Careers in STEM are exciting, rewarding and highly paid yet not everybody has access to this information.

Currently women make up only 16.5% of the UK engineering workforce and only 9.9% are from minoritised ethnic backgrounds* - these statistics create a real opportunity to make impactful change and address the UK engineering skills shortage that we are currently facing.

Just over three in 10 businesses are taking, or have taken, any action to increase the diversity of their engineering, IT and technical workforces in terms of ethnicity (30%), or gender (33%) of their workforce. This reflects an increase since our previous reports however much more still needs to be done.

IET Skills and Demand in Industry Survey 2021

*EngineeringUK 2022, 2020


Bringing the world
of engineering & technology to a broader audience

  • Increase attraction and retention activity within engineering & technology organisations

  • Engage with underrepresented and minority groups

  • Engage with individuals from a low socio-economic background

  • Help those groups to realise their potential and emphasise that engineering & technology can offer rewarding career opportunities for young people, regardless of their background

With technology increasingly touching most aspects of our lives, it’s of the utmost importance that there is diversity in engineering to ensure that it serves everyone in our society.