With hundreds of employment options in the STEM industry, the need to embrace diversity and inclusion as a way to attract, retain and progress diverse talent has never been more important.
Diversity can apply to gender, race, ethnicity, age, sexuality, language, nationality, education and so much more.
Diversity in the workplace allows each individual employee to bring with them a set of perspectives both in work and in life experiences which can be used to the benefit of the business.
Companies across the UK battle against diversity and unconscious bias issues every day.
Whether is be racism in the workplace, ageism, sexism or one of the many other issues; diversity in the working environment is about promoting acceptance, respect and teamwork that creates a more pleasant and accepting working environment. This has benefits for employees in creating a more friendly and inclusive working environment and for companies, it helps to attract, retain and progress diverse talent within their business.
Inclusion is all about having employees from different backgrounds accepted and welcomed in your place of work and treated equally. With inclusion in the workplace, you will introduce a sense of belonging that will develop a workplace culture that allows employees to feel respected and valued for who they are and what they can bring to the table.
For inclusion to work, it needs to have a visible effect. From interactions of team members in meetings to how offices and desk allocation is organised. The process of inclusion should make people feel valued because when someone feels valued they will function at a higher capacity and feel a part of the companies ‘family’ mentality. This can create a positive ripple effect through the rest of the company. Increasing motivation and morale while creating a higher performing business that can move forwards with real global ambition.
STEM is the abbreviated term for companies in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. Within the STEM field, because of its specialised nature, employees generally tend to have STEM related degrees in higher level education and it is one of the fastest growing sectors of business in the UK. It has seen significant accelerated growth since the 90’s as computer technology has developed and advanced.
The growth of internet based business demands and IT requirements has led to a significant increase in STEM educated professionals across all business sectors.
The ability to see a problem differently thanks to diverse perspectives can lead to the biggest breakthroughs. A diverse team with individuals from different backgrounds can work through problem solving differently while bringing new perspectives that lead to innovation.
Increasing diversity in STEM is the key to long-term economic growth for business and in a sector that is expanding faster than most, STEM is currently failing to address diversity and inclusion.
Those at the top of the individual STEM fields need to embrace diversity. We are at a crucial point where we need to disrupt the current patterns and ensure that the growth of the STEM sectors does so with an expanded talent pool of diverse problem solvers that can bring new perspectives and opinions whilst working in an inclusive environment.
A diverse workforce can provide a balanced social harmony in your company while increasing productivity and profitability. Inclusion allows this new diversity to work together. Everyone has a voice and it allows those voices to be heard. Good ideas are pushed forwards and businesses can become stronger thanks to having the right employees with the best forward thinking ideas and skills necessary to take the company forwards.
Skills 4 is one of the UK’s leading Diversity and Inclusion Training Providers offering unrivalled expertise in the Construction and Engineering Sectors
The company was established in 2006, by the current CEO Jayne Little, in response to issues identified in the government-commissioned Report, ‘Shaping a Fairer Future’.
We offer Award Winning training and bespoke interventions which deliver measurable results and enable our clients to attract, retain and progress diverse talent.
