Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM), these subjects have for a long time (and currently) been dominated by males. For one part of the issue, there is a gender role bias from the community mixed with a lack of exposure of STEM to female students.
Check out our presentation slides below with more information below!
The question we challenge was
"How might we increase females into STEM AND retain them in a company?"
On one side of a typical working journey is the choice between raising a family, or moving up in an organisation. For males, the balance and commitment to either are the same. In contrast, for females, the choice of raising a family is a barrier for consideration into managerial positions. For a company that works within a male-dominated industry such as STEM, then the issue is moderated even further.
The solution?
A multi-channel approach where a company is proactively involved in exposing and guiding female students into STEM. Running a programme for a term may work, but an investment into a life journey is what is truly needed.
For us, this looked like a journey from birth, where mothers after their maternity leave have accessible paid childhood centres located within the working office building. Not only does this assist those who want to balance raising a family with work, but it builds a network of family communities within an organisation.
The next touchpoint is encouraging students at a young age with interactive and fun activities that engage them — teaching the practical and tangible outcomes of these subjects similar to Google Education where coding is fun and interactive.
This entire journey is captured throughout the CRM system with further courses, mentoring and classes throughout high school and university. The final touchpoint is positioning a company to facilitate and assist with barriers that females face in work. Imagine a creche in the office building where newborns to toddlers can be brought to work and looked after by their mother without compromising their work or performance.
The ROI? - The cost it takes to find, recruit and retain employees.
Female employees will feel valued; the company will be aligned and positioned in the NZ market, therefore, attracting the best professionals in the industry.
Who did we talk to?
Various employees of the company, from those new in the company to those in managerial positions. Both males and females of the company expressed an equivalency in the importance of a solution like this for the problem.
Auckland Uni student support services – in particular, the manager of all the childhood centres on campus.
Who was on the team?
Gustavo Fernandez- Ph.D in Education
Lavisha Gopaldasani - Bcom
Janice Wong - Bsc
Nabeel Mohammed – Bsc
Nicholas Bing (Team lead) – Bcom/BA
Biggest Learnings
This case was by far, the best experience in understanding the power of diversity. The team was highly diverse in more ways than one. We had various levels of study, from first-years to PhD level as well as cultural differences which all drove the diversity in thought that was required with this challenge.
Disclaimer:
Although this case study and slides are uploaded on this website where it is easily accessible and available to anyone who enters the page. The intellectual property presented within these cases have been worked on thoroughly and therefore, any information used from any part of these findings should be acknowledged and treated with the same level of integrity. To avoid any copyright infringement, I have blurred out the use of company logos that these cases were presented to.
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