Bridging the Gender Gap in STEM: A Commitment to Equality at Thales UK

As a proud father to four adult daughters, all I want is for them to thrive and be happy – be that in work or outside of it. But I know that in many walks of life, and particularly in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) industries, women have to face all sorts of additional hurdles, barriers, and biases (unconscious or not) simply by virtue of being born female.

This gender disparity is something we’re always mindful of at Thales in the UK, and our 2023 Gender Pay Gap Report is a good indicator of the gains we’ve made over the last year. While I’m proud it shows positive progress against our equity, diversity, and inclusion commitments, it also highlights how we, and the wider industry, have more to do.

 

 

Narrowing the gap

Of course, the reasons behind this disparity in pay and opportunity are both historic and more complex than they first appear. When I studied Aeronautics and Astronautics at the University of Southampton in the early 1980s, you could count the number of female students in my course on one half of one hand. And joining Thales in 1992, there were very few female colleagues and even fewer female leaders, so a very different working environment to what I see today.

While I’m pleased to see more female representation in STEM industries, it’s reported that only 16.5% of engineers in the UK are women – a stark reminder that we still have a long way to go – and this scarcity underscores the urgency to address systemic barriers and a working environment where women can thrive in these industries.

But it also underscores the fact that with a smaller pool of female talent to draw from, fewer women advance into leadership positions. It’s a reality I’m acutely aware of, and an issue we’ve been working hard to resolve for quite a few years now for two key reasons.

Firstly, the research into EDI consistently shows that, done well, gender parity correlates with better business performance. Revenue, profitability, decision-making, and employee engagement, to name a few, all improve. Put simply, balancing the gender books will make us a stronger, more competitive, and innovative company.

And secondly, beyond the business and economic imperative lies a profound moral obligation we all share as individuals and as a society: to ensure equal opportunities and equity for women.

At Thales in the UK, we recognise the true value of gender diversity and are focused on supporting women in the workplace every day – a key part of which is supporting them into leadership positions at all levels of our company.

 

Walking the leadership talk

Since becoming CEO four years ago, I’ve made it a priority to even up the gender scales in Thales in the UK, but being realistic I know it’s not something that can happen overnight. But through sustained effort and investment we, as a business, are beginning to see change.

Change that’s being fomented by an EDI strategy, led by my colleague Lynne Watson, VP, Human Resources, and her fantastic team who work hard to empower, educate, and inspire future female students into STEM. In doing so, they’re helping us meet our business needs along with our moral and legal obligations, while also improving our own talent pipeline through recruiting, developing and supporting the next generation of female leaders in Thales.

We’re doing this in various ways including collaborating and partnering with educational institutions and organisations to inspire young girls to pursue STEM subjects and careers. A good example is our partnership with STEMettes to provide mentoring and workshops to young women. Another is the engineering scholarships we sponsor through the Institute of Engineering & Technology (IET).

We also partner with Code First Girls (CFG), whose mission is to close the gender gap in tech. What’s unique about CFG’s programme is that it sets aside conventional recruitment paths and instead focuses on female candidates’ technical aptitude and learning ability. To date, we’ve funded 11 spots to harness this untapped potential, nurture female talent, and help to expand the pool of women from which we can identify and develop future leaders.

We’re also continuing to sponsor female employees through the Solaris Leadership Academy, which offers two development programmes for women who identify as Black/Mixed Race/Biracial/Black Heritage. The first of which is the year-long Women’s Executive Leadership Development Programme for women who have at least 10 years’ work experience. The second is the Rising Stars Executive Leadership Development Programme, a five-month programme aimed at woman who identify as above, but who are in the early stages of their careers.

 

Inclusive recruitment

But no matter how hard we try, we won’t get more women into leadership positions if we don’t have the right recruitment processes in place, so we’ve focused on ensuring we have diverse hiring practices, too. Practices that include things like unconscious bias training for hiring managers and diverse interview panels.

Only by developing and embedding more diverse and inclusive recruitment strategies into our approach, along with our commitment to flexible working and female-friendly policies that suit women at all stages of their working lives, can we hope to attract and retain top female leaders from all ethnicities and backgrounds.

…and training for all

Allied to this is educating our whole workforce on equity, diversity and inclusion, and I’m pleased to report over 90% of our employees have now completed training in EDI. We expect to reach 100% by the end of 2024.

Ultimately, we’re committed to making the necessary behavioural changes in Thales, to foster a culture where women feel supported and empowered to excel throughout their careers and to assume leadership positions. This includes tackling issues such as ‘imposter syndrome’, which studies show is much more likely to affect women than men – and one senses this must be even more prevalent in male-dominated industries such as ours.

As a father to four daughters first and foremost, and a CEO second, I’m uniquely qualified to become an ally for creating and expanding opportunities for girls and women. In fact, I’d go as far as to say it’s my duty to challenge stereotypes and to attract and develop leaders that closely reflect the rich tapestry of communities we work in. And I know my daughters would agree.

Next time, I’ll be looking in more depth at flexible working practices and how essential they are to enable parents, adopters, and carers, among others, to juggle life and work in a way that balances both.

By Alex Cresswell, CEO 

 

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