Austin Court, like the event, was a hidden gem amidst
concrete walls and aggressive conversation. For example, an uninterrupted and
informative panel discussion about the gender pay gap with people from Boeing,
Microsoft, Prospect and Costain Group with audience participation. As well as
that, we opened up the conversation about positive discrimination and the
procedures people put in place to prevent that.
Next, a fantastic talk about the ‘dripping tap effect’ with
Richard Chapman-Harris. A very engaging session about micro-aggressions and
unconscious bias. In this talk we were asked to draw what we imagined an
engineer looked like. At the end, there were two men, many women, stickmen and gender-neutral engineers. Mine (as
you’ll see below) is a person so engrossed in their laptop that their keys are
flying off.
I learned about how routine often directs your train of
thought and may contribute to unconscious bias, with emphasis on how it’s ok to
have this as long as you are aware of it and are taking it into consideration
during your decisions. After that, I attended a talk called ‘Diversity toolkit: A
practical approach to addressing the gender pay gap’ with Mivy James, Maya
Kolaska and Kinjal Dave.
This one I was a bit torn about. The main positive things I took away from that was the
inclusion of the arts into STEM, AKA STEAM. I believe that this is the right
step in including more women in traditionally STEM workplaces because it is
near impossible to switch professions at a later stage in your career, which in
turn will shrink the pay gap sooner. I don’t handle CV’s but the idea of removing names, ages and
anything that indicates a person’s gender seemed like a very good way to combat
discrimination across the board. What I felt uncomfortable about was the feasibility of some
of the actions they were proposing. I could see companies blissfully agreeing,
yet I felt that the agenda had shifted from gender equality to a PR move. Maybe
I’m being cynical but paying extra to women-built tech start-ups is not going
to happen in a private, profit driven company- that’s another discussion.
The last talk I visited was called ‘Through life development
of women in engineering’ held by Lieutenant Tracey Lewis. She was a delight to listen to. We had great conversations
about what inspired women into engineering and how our childhood reflects that.
It was good to hear that no journey was the same and useful to know about the
things that made people comfortable and uncomfortable whilst joining that
workforce.
Then, networking and drinks. A perfect close for a Friday
summer’s evening.
Note:
I am working on a project that focuses on what feminism
means to young people and what can be done to make the transition from
education to the workplace easier. If you are a woman, man or anyone in-between
that has is/has been on the UKAEA graduate or apprenticeship scheme, please
contact me so that we can improve schemes across the UK.