WISE, the campaign to improve gender balance in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), launching a new online resource called My Skills My Life. My Skills My Life aims to help change the way girls see STEM subjects and how they relate to careers that make a difference to the world. The call comes in response to research showing serious gaps in STEM roles.

“At A Level, only one in ten computer science students and one in five physics students are female. When you take out health, fewer than 1 in 5 of science, technology and engineering jobs in the UK are held by women. We simply have to get better at showing girls that maths, science and technology open doors to exciting, well-paid jobs where they can make a real difference to the world,” explained Helen Wollaston, Chief Executive Officer for WISE.

My Skills My Life is aimed at girls aged 11-19 and it was developed to address the stereotype that science, engineering and technology are more suited to boys than girls. The game helps girls to identify their personality types, shows them the sorts of roles in STEM that they could do, and matches them to role models who share their personality type to learn more about STEM careers.

WISE is calling for more role models and for businesses to help spread the word about My Skills My Life to help it achieve its ambition to reach 200,000 girls. As well as its new resource, WISE, supported by its members, provides schools with career workshops delivered by real life female scientists, technologists and engineers.

“There appears to be an appetite for change in various sectors, some more so than others. By getting behind campaigns such as WISE’s, we build on this appetite and put into play the things that research is now showing can make a difference, from providing more role models for young girls to changing the language used in job descriptions and adverts. These professions are creating some of the biggest changes that our society has seen and we need to excite and inspire our future generations so that they want to be part of them,” commented Jacqueline de Rojas, CBE, President of techUK.

The resource has been developed with generous support from sponsors including: Broadcom, Goldman Sachs Gives, BAE Systems, Network Rail, the UK Space Agency, techUK, and the National Skills Academy for Rail.

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