With fears of a worrying skills shortage in science, engineering and technology, adults are being invited to a STEM festival organised by MK Innovates, part of the Milton Keynes-based organisation Women Leaders UK.
Originally founded as an event for schools, the first day of this year’s STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) Festival, on October 24, will be aimed at adults interested in developing a career in STEM. On the second day, around 1,600 students from schools across the region will attend.
Anyone is welcome, particularly women looking for new opportunities in STEM. Around 40 organisations from the sector will be at the event at Unity Place in Milton Keynes to showcase their companies and offer advice, including on areas such as CV writing, interview tips, available jobs, what they are looking for in an employee, and what they have to offer.
Dr Susan Izadkhasti, who is a trustee of Women Leaders UK and Lead for the MK Innovates STEM Festival, said:
“The aim is to encourage more women and girls into STEM. It’s an event for schools on the second day but on the first day it is open to adults, men and women, who might be thinking about pursuing a career in STEM.”
“There’s still evidence that too few girls are taking an interest in science in school and we have to address that. There’s a shortage of women in science, engineering and technology and we’re asking companies to put their female scientists, technologists and engineers at the forefront of this event and show that there is no such thing as a typical scientist. You don’t have to be geeky, you can have other interests, such as fashion, cooking and sport, it doesn’t matter. What matters is that if you have the talent for STEM subjects, there are all kinds of roles out there and the chances are you will find something that you love doing.” Says Dr Izadkhasti
“At the same time, we also want companies to show what they can offer, what their company culture is like and how they can encourage more women into their workplaces.”
Among the organisations signed up to this year’s festival are Santander, NatWest, Oracle Red Bull Racing, Niftylift, MK:U, Tesla, Network Rail and NHBC.
The event will feature networking opportunities and the chance to listen to speakers and panel discussions and to attend a wide variety of workshops and presentations. Around 350 people have already registered to attend and the organisers are hoping that number will top 500 by the time the event opens.
Dr Izadkhasti, who now works as a Leadership Coach and Consultant, said: “We’d love to hit our target of around 500 on the day, but if people don’t feel they want to come along, or can’t make it on the day, we are still here as an organisation to support, empower and mentor any women who feel they can develop a career in STEM.
“It’s not an easy decision. I was confident enough to move on to new jobs when I was working as a scientist and I want to create that for other people, especially women. It’s the freedom of having the confidence to believe in yourself that you can do it.”
“And the fact is that if we don’t look after STEM we are going to be short of engineers and scientists in the future. It was scientists like me who worked on the vaccine for COVID 19, we can’t be in a position where we can’t make things like that happen. Those scientists trained and worked hard for years to be in that position, so we have to make sure we look to the future.”
“For the sake of the economy and for the sake of future generations, we need to attract more talent into the STEM industries to address those skills shortages.”
MK Innovates STEM Festival 2024, Women in STEM will be held at Unity Place, Milton Keynes on Thursday, October 24 from 9am to 4pm.
General admission is free, visit the MK Innovates website to reserve a space.
