Gender role models in STEM - inspiration or threat?

It is well-reported that the number of women pursuing careers in the physical sciences and engineering is in the minority. Across the UK less than 20% of engineers are women and only 22% of those taking A level Physics are female1. In Europe the numbers are similar in most countries. With the overall shortage of graduates in these areas, much effort has been spent on trying to even the balance. With the shortage being so large, the rationale has often been that appealing to only 50% of the population (male) will not help solve the problem of supply to the STEM industries. In addition to solving the STEM skills gap, there is evidence that more diverse teams perform better and that at the very highest level women have a positive impact on organisational success2. One of the ways that has been used extensively to tackle this issue is the use of role models working in STEM to show young people a more diverse range of scientists and engineers. There is evidence to suggest that a large number of young people still hold negative views of scientists and engineers. Many young people though use positive words to describe scientists (eg useful, clever, helpful, creative) but still do not self-identify as someone who could do science. They feel strongly that careers in STEM are ‘not for people like me’