Katalytik produced Set to Lead resources with WES and UCL Engineering.The program is about making fundamental change in the training of engineers to build confident, communicative engineers.

We now want to take this work beyond UK universities and enable access more widely and create a platform to showcase the women technical leaders filmed from within the project.

Problem

In the UK data shows 42% male compared to 21% of female STEM graduates transfer into technical jobs. The UK only has 8% women in its professional engineering workforce. Research shows boards with 30% women are more effective. Law, consulting and the medical professions are making improvements. The engineering profession is still struggling to make progress and initiatives seek to 'fix' and inspire women. A more fundamental approach is needed.

Solution

We designed a programme that asked engineering undergraduates what they saw as the issues and set about designing tools and a course module focused on contemporary leadership practices and team member's behaviours through addressing self awareness of male and female students to give students the tools and language to discuss behaviours. We also produced 3 scenarios around modern engineering problems that happened to be led by women engineers. We are now working to have this taken on board in UK universities. Working with women's groups we want to roll this out through technical women's networks.

Exemple

Women engineering students, when asked, do not see there are any gender discrimination issues, but male students saw women not getting as much from their courses as they did. We designed an initiative that tackled the engineering culture at the start of the undergraduate programme that wasn't labelled as a women's initiative. Working with employers we brought together team and leadership insights to help engineering academics embed this knowledge and awareness within their existing programmes.

Marché

Collaborators: This project is working with the Women's Engineering Society to connect with employers and disseminate the results. We are though working with the Engineering Professors Council in the UK to raise awareness of the findings of the underpinning research and the resources we have created. We created this project in collaboration with University College London as part of a national - HE STEM - programme. The Set to Lead project is a not for profit project but was created from Katalytik's director's appreciation of the global initiatives and gaps in delivery. Potential competitors are small leadership consultancies delivering leadership training. This though is a collaborative project that seeks to effect change not compete across the world through other changemakers.