WISE opens awards nominations to recognise inspirational women

Do you know an inspirational woman or girl working in technology, science or engineering? Why not nominate them for an award that celebrates the contribution women and girls are making to British education, media and industry through their work in STEM (science, technology, engineering, maths)?

Nominations are now open for the WISE awards, recognising the diversity of women and girls working in technical areas from schoolroom to boardroom.  The 2014 awards mark the 30th anniversary of the WISE campaign promoting women in science, technology and engineering.  The ten awards fit into two strategic areas. The Making the Case category is for individual women and girls who are inspiring the next generation to study and work in STEM by showing how they can make a difference.  Building and Sustaining the Pipeline celebrates those whose actions have increased the recruitment, retention and progression of women in STEM organisations or sectors where women are currently under-represented.  

WISE is delighted to welcome Bloomberg, the global leader in business and financial information, news and analysis, as the awards headline sponsor.  Bloomberg will be hosting the daytime programme in conjunction with WISE, featuring sessions on the topic of ‘The STEM workforce we want to build for the next 30 years.’  Christine Flounders, London R&D Lead, Bloomberg L.P. comments "Innovation happens by doing things differently. Bloomberg has consistently been about using technology to create better ways to make decisions, to gain insights, to increase transparency and to connect people. Bloomberg has been able to do this through a diverse set of ideas and ways of thinking. We are committed to increasing the representation of diverse groups in the technical community and beyond in order to improve our business and our communities worldwide." 

WISE is grateful to a number of organisations whose support makes these awards a reality including Babcock (sponsoring the WISE Hero award), the Royal Academy of Engineering (sponsoring the WISE Recruiter award) and Halliburton (sponsoring the WISE Lifetime Achievement Award). 

Working in science and technology offers good career prospects with interesting job roles, higher than average pay and opportunities to travel.  There is currently high demand for employees with a maths and physics background.  However, it is well known that more men than women work in STEM careers often due to unintentional bias.  Celebrating women's contributions in technical roles, the WISE awards help to support the opening up of female opportunities and the breaking down of gender stereotypes.

Saheefa Ishaq, from The Redmoor Academy, who won the WISE Girl award in 2013, says “There are some young women out there who will not pursue careers they love, simply because they think it is a man’s profession. Wrong. Some of the best scientists and engineers in the world are women and it is so important not to let your gender, affect your life choices - follow what you love. Imagine how it could affect you...”

Previous winners confirm how the WISE awards have encouraged them in their work. 

Kathryn Boulton-Pratt , Assistant Head of Science at Sheffield High School, who won the WISE Advisor award, says “ To have my work recognised through the award was amazing.  In the last few months I have been approached by a number of people from different organisations offering help and / or opportunities for both my students and myself.  This has been great as it’s usually me doing all the approaching and asking for things.”

Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal, patron of the WISE campaign, has once again been invited to present the Awards at a prestigious dinner at the newly-opened 5 star Grange Tower Bridge Hotel in London on 13 November 2014.  This will follow a daytime programme of speakers, workshops and knowledge sharing sessions.

A small number of sponsorship opportunities remain (including the WISE advisor award) offering the chance to demonstrate commitment to getting more women into science, keeping them in and helping them to rise to the top.  Details are available on the WISE website, www.wisecampaign.co.uk

The deadline for nominations is 22 August 2014.  To see a full list of the awards categories or to download nomination papers, visit www.wisecampaign.org.uk/about-us/wise-awards/2014-wise-awards.  Follow the awards on Twitter @thewisecampaign #WISEAwards2014. 

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For further information, contact Sarah Shaw, Director of Communications, via email s.shaw@wisecampaign.org.uk or phone 07545 208 530; or Pamela Cairns, Brightlinn Marketing, via email pamela@brightlinnmarketing.co.uk; phone 07984 599 840


NOTES

Statistics –
•    Girls are achieving equal or better grades than boys at GCSE level in most STEM subjects and those that do A-Level’s get higher A*-C grades than boys.
•    Research indicates that 98% of women working as professional engineers find their job rewarding
•    In 2013, 12,800 males started engineering apprenticeships compared to only 400 females
•    Britain has the lowest percentage of female engineering professionals in Europe with less than 10%  vs 30% in Cyprus, Bulgaria and Latvia
•    The UK will require 100,000 more professional scientists, engineers and technologists each year, from now till 2020,  just to replace those retiring

WISE awards organised by:-

WISE (a campaign to increase the number of women in science, technology and engineering) helps organisations to inspire women and girls to pursue science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) as pathways to exciting and fulfilling careers. Our mission is to push the presence of female employees from 13% to 30% by 2020, boosting the talent pool to drive economic growth. For more information, visit www.wisecampaign.org.uk or contact Director of Communications, Sarah Shaw, via email at s.shaw@wisecampaign.org.uk or phone on 07545 208 530.

Sponsors:-

Bloomberg, (headline sponsor), the global business and financial information and news leader, gives influential decision makers a critical edge by connecting them to a dynamic network of information, people and ideas.  The company’s strength – delivering data, news and analytics through innovative technology, quickly and accurately – is at the core of the Bloomberg Professional service, which provides real time financial information to more than 320,000 subscribers globally.  Headquartered in New York, Bloomberg employs more than 15,500 people in 192 locations around the world and is committed to partnering with business leaders, NGOs and civil society to meet today's global challenges. Whether through fundraising, volunteering or providing technical solutions, Bloomberg’s philanthropic efforts have embraced technological innovation to improve the communities in which we live and work.  For more information, visit www.bloomberg.com/now/.

Alcoa (silver sponsor) - global leader in lightweight metals engineering and manufacturing www.alcoa.com

Atkins (WISE employer award) - one of the world's leading design, engineering and project management consultancies www.atkinsglobal.com

AWE (WISE leadership award) - plays a crucial role in the defence of the United Kingdom www.awe.co.uk

Babcock (WISE hero award) - the UK's leading engineering support services company www.babcockinternational.com

Calendargrads (silver sponsor) – encouraging more women to pursue a career in the science and engineering industry www.calendargrads.co.uk

Grange Hotels (venue sponsor) - provides luxury London hotel accommodation, hospitality and events services for the most discerning guest www.grangehotels.com

Halliburton (WISE lifetime achievement award) - offers a broad array of oilfield services and products to upstream oil and gas customers worldwide www.halliburton.com

Institution of Civil Engineers (WISE apprentice award) - an international membership organisation that promotes and advances civil engineering around the world www.ice.org.uk

The Institution of Engineering and Technology (WISE research award, shared) - Professional society for the engineering and technology community – www.theiet.org

Institution of Mechanical Engineers (silver sponsor) - the fastest growing professional engineering institution in the UK www.imeche.org

Intel (WISE girl award) - designs and builds the essential technologies that serve as the foundation for the world’s computing devices www.intel.co.uk

Microsoft (silver sponsor) - help people and businesses throughout the world realise their full potential www.microsoft.com

Royal Academy of Engineering (WISE recruiter award) - pursuing, encouraging and maintaining excellence in the whole field of engineering www.raeng.org.uk

Research Council UK (WISE champion award) the strategic partnership of the UK's seven Research Councils www.rcuk.ac.uk

Strategy & Technology Ltd (silver sponsor) - an independent specialist company tightly focused on providing interactive TV technologies to help broadcasters improve their businesses www.s-and-t.com

The Wellcome Trust (WISE research award, shared) a global charitable foundation dedicated to achieving extraordinary improvements in health by supporting the brightest minds www.wellcometrust.ac.uk


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