Written Evidence Submitted by Cogent Skills

(DIV0052)

Cogent Skills is the UK's strategic body for skills in the science industries. Our purpose is entirely focused on skills and supporting the skills needs and ambitions of individual employers and their employees. We are sector based, working with companies from across the Science Industries embracing Life Sciences, Industrial Sciences and Nuclear. We have particular expertise in STEM vocational education and industry regulation with respect to skills and competence. Cogent Skills also supports and facilitates the Science Industry Partnership (SIP) and the Nuclear Skills Strategy Group (NSSG).

In 2020 SIP published its ‘Life Sciences 2030 Skills Strategy’. The report provided an evidence-based view of the future needs of the sector, outlining the key requirements for future skills solutions in order to maintain UK competitiveness. The research therefore offered 26 recommendations across four key areas: Integrated Skills; Apprenticeships; Global Operating Environment; and Attraction & Perception. These recommendations included the need to:

• ‘Undertake research to understand the Equality, Diversity & Inclusion (ED&I) issues of the sector, and benchmark against other industries to identify best practice when addressing workplace diversity, to inform the action plan.’
• ‘Develop and implement an ED&I Strategy that promotes best practices.’

In 2021 SIP started delivering against these recommendations by producing its ‘Life Sciences: Equality, Diversity & Inclusion’ report. The research uses a combination of survey responses, national data sources, case studies and examples of ‘best practice’, together with a wider literature review to explore a broad range of topics. Our research produced a checklist of 27 ED&I recommendations across four key themes and can be found at the end of this submission.

Survey responses were obtained using an online survey from employers across the Life Sciences industry. The data were collected from a total of 72 separate companies. It is estimated that approximately 140,000 employees are captured within the data, equating to around 55% of the total UK Life Sciences workforce. As such, the results are considered representative of the working practices being experienced by a significant proportion of the sector workforce.

Key findings from the survey:

• 31% of respondent companies don’t have an ED&I strategy
• 45% of companies reported that line managers are not trained in ED&I issues
• 47% stated concern at the lack of BAME individuals in senior positions
• 47% stated concern at the lack of women in senior position
• 68% have introduced initiatives aimed at improving the gender pay gap
• 85% have introduced flexible working practices
• 78% have introduced employee network groups
• 81% would support an industry specific benchmark on ED&I

Key data points from national data sources:

• Overall gender profile of the sector is approx. 56% male: 44% female. [1]
• Women account for approx. just 40% of the ‘Managers, Directors and Senior Officials’ and ‘Professional Occupations’ within the sector. [2]
• Women account for approx. just 21% of the ‘Skilled Trades Occupations’ within the sector, whereas they make up around 70% of ‘Administrative and Secretarial’ occupations. [3]
• Women account for just 37% of employees aged 50 and above across all occupational codes within the sector. [4]
• Less than 1% of sector employees are ‘Black/African/Caribbean/ Black British’.[5]
• Approximately just 11% of the workforce are disabled, either with a disability that limits their day-to-day activities, or one that is ‘work-limiting’, or both. [6]
• It is estimated that just 9% of Life Science professionals are from a working-class background.[7]
• SIP conducted an analysis of gender pay gap information published by 78 large employers within Life Sciences and found the median pay gap for these companies was approximately 10%. [8]

Many companies across the sector are now approaching the diversity issue with vigour and enthusiasm, and workforce data does show an overall trend of improvement. For example the proportion of women working within the sector increased from 40% to 44% over the past 5 years.[9] Similarly, the data show that diversity in terms of the representation of Minority Ethnic groups has also increased over the same time period.

Summary of areas for consideration

The UK Life Sciences industry is forecast to require 133,000 new and replacement jobs by 2030.[10] It is a growing sector but in order to achieve its ambitions there is a recognised need to do more to attract and retain a diverse workforce of talented people from across all our different communities.

Careers outreach

Companies must recognise and address the factors that influence people when deciding where they want to work. Recruitment policies and practices should be carefully considered, so they are fair and free of bias, and live up to the standards and expectations of the modern scientific workforce. Equally, it is important that companies also take a long term view with recruitment, actively working to inspire future generations to ensure a sustainable and diverse talent pipeline.

Careers Outreach programmes serve an essential function by informing and enthusing future generations. They broaden young people’s aspirations about potential jobs, foster confidence and ambition, and help to challenge stereotypes. Young people need to hear from a wide range of speakers from different social, economic and ethnic backgrounds, working in different sectors, who have taken different paths to get there.[11] This is particularly important for individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds who often need greater interventions, and yet are the least likely to receive careers guidance. [12]

People tend to use role models who ‘match’ themselves, whether that be in terms of ethnicity, religion, disability status, sexual orientation or gender. They can become a source of self-efficacy and inspiration for students by providing a positive example of their possible future selves. [13] A lack of diverse, relatable and realistic role models can therefore negatively impact career aspirations and outcomes for already disadvantaged groups. ‘Who they are’ is just as important as ‘what they do.’

Life Sciences companies should proactively celebrate and promote their diversity to help them access and galvanise a wider pool of potential future talent. Colleagues should be supported to become diversity role models, and then given a platform to engage with the wider community and inspire future generations. One such platform is the SIP Ambassador programme; a strong, diverse network of industry professionals who work with schools and colleges to promote the many careers available within science. SIP Ambassadors present working in the science based industries in a positive light, with a focus on dispelling myths and stereotypes. Targeted Careers Outreach programmes can therefore help the industry to engage with young people of all backgrounds, with the necessary ambition of achieving equality of opportunity.

Apprenticeships and Social Mobility

The potential for apprenticeships to be used as a means to promote social mobility has long been accepted. They enable individuals to gain workplace knowledge, skills and professional behaviours, supporting employability and boosting earning potential. Equally, university with the potential for high levels of personal debt, is not for everyone, which can act as a barrier to disadvantaged individuals. There is also a problem regarding student loans, with some faiths prohibited from taking out loans that charge interest. It is essential then that young people have access to high quality alternatives that provide a genuine pathway into industry at higher levels and in niche specialisms.

The SIP Apprenticeship Survey 2020[14] report describes how Life Sciences companies are increasingly turning to Higher level and Degree level apprenticeships to address a wide variety of skills gaps. However, evidence from the wider economy suggests that people from disadvantaged backgrounds are less likely than their ‘better off’ peers to secure an apprenticeship at these levels.[15]

SIP believe that young people from all backgrounds should have equal access to the opportunities provided by the sectors growing concentration of Higher level and Degree level apprenticeships. Where possible, companies should look outside of their immediate or traditional catchment areas and actively promote apprenticeships to disadvantaged communities.

The Social Mobility Commission set a target to “Increase the proportion of starters from disadvantaged backgrounds at advanced and higher levels to comparable levels currently prevailing for non-disadvantaged apprentices.”[16] SIP would be keen to work with government and its agencies to explore how policy change could support employers to achieve this target.

Succession planning and mentoring

Research by Deloitte concluded that loyalty to an employer is often driven by an understanding and support of career ambitions, as well as providing opportunities to progress and become leaders. It was observed that employees who were intending to stay with an organisation for more than five years are twice as likely to have a mentor (68%) than not (32%).[17] Mentoring relationships are an effective way to develop leadership skills with advice and guidance, boosting confidence and job satisfaction. Another study found that women and Minority Ethnic employees are more likely to describe a mentoring relationship as ‘extremely important’ to their career development.[18]

In fact, research suggests that women are actually more likely to advance to manager level and beyond in organisations that already have women in leadership positions.[19]

Companies should work to develop a diverse pool of internal mentors, ensuring all employees have access to career role models as a source of inspiration for both personal and professional development. Succession planning and the nurturing of internal talent has many potential benefits, creating leaders with relevant operational experience who understand the organisations cultural nuances.[20]

In house leadership programmes can be used to identify candidates with diversity in mind, wherever there is a recognised lack of representation within senior positions. It is important to be proactive in this process and it shouldn’t be left until someone resigns or retires. Equally, companies should take a wider view when identifying candidates and not necessarily limit the search to full time employees.

Collecting data and setting diversity metrics

Having access to robust data is critical in informing any successful business strategy. It helps us to understand performance in order to make better decisions, improve processes and solve problems. However, collecting and reporting on diversity data is a known challenge, often leading to complex processes which can be resource intensive. The issue of disclosure (or collection) of certain data can be sensitive, with no legal obligation for employees to disclose certain diversity characteristics, resulting in low return rates and poor quality data. Nonetheless, collecting and understanding data is necessary to inform targeted Positive Action in the areas where additional interventions are required.

There should be an emphasis on creating a positive environment that promotes the voluntary disclosure of diversity characteristics, with an understanding of why the data are being collected and how it will be used. Employees are more likely to engage with a diversity monitoring exercise if they see it as an integrated part of an overall strategy for promoting inclusivity and increasing accessibility.[21] In this regard, it is important to make diversity commitments visible and ensure senior management involvement in the exercise. Celebrating achievements can also have an impact by sharing examples of how diversity monitoring information has positively informed equality initiatives.

Pay gap reporting

Mandatory gender pay gap reporting has made employers publicly accountable to their customers, employees and potential future recruits. It has motivated companies to better understand the causes of their pay gaps, which are often complex and varied, so they can take the appropriate action to address any issues.

Recently, the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) select committee, and the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR), both made recommendations that the reporting threshold should be reduced to organisations of 50 employees or more. [22], [23] The IPPR went further to propose that companies be required to produce a ‘fair pay report’ with details of their gender pay gap, ethnicity pay gap, and disability pay gap. Government have conducted a consultation over ethnicity pay reporting but the outcomes are yet to be made public. Momentum is therefore growing for the scope of legislation to be expanded and used as a vehicle through which to tackle wider inequalities that persist.

SIP would be keen to work with government and industry to explore how a widening of pay gap reporting requirements may help the sector achieve greater levels of equality in its workforce. As previously stated, there are known challenges around collecting robust diversity data. Companies must be given sufficient time and support to organise new processes and establish a baseline.

Employee engagement

Each company has its own culture, and so any inclusion strategy will require an honest assessment of how the current biases and group dynamics impact on employee experiences. Companies must work openly with their employees, giving them a voice to raise any concerns or areas that need improvement. Feedback should then be incorporated into the design of initiatives, to ensure they are appropriate and add value. Consciously developing a “you said, we did” culture by showing examples of employee feedback being acted upon, and building the trust of the workforce. Similarly, it is important to review the success of activity through employee engagement surveys, to understand what is working and what still needs to be developed further. If representation is considered a measure of diversity, employee experiences are a measure of inclusion. In this regard, creating and maintaining a system for regular employee feedback is critical in establishing a baseline and tracking progress over time.

Transparent processes

A lack of formality and transparency regarding the criteria for recruitment, promotion and pay negotiation can create barriers to equality in the workplace.[24] In the absence of clearly defined systems, advancement to more senior roles and higher pay grades can become dependent on informal processes that exclude or disadvantage some groups and favour others. Informal social networks for example can become an unequal source of information regarding training opportunities, as well as playing a role in determining things like how work assignments are allocated. Equally, companies must ensure that the policies that are in-place are integrated into practice and adhered to, ensuring no gap between intentions and action.

ED&I is fundamentally about ensuring that everyone has access to the same opportunities and the same, fair treatment. It is important then to set expectations amongst employees and be transparent in decision making wherever possible. For example, Career pathways can be created by clearly defining competency frameworks, relating to a broad range of desired skills and behaviours, clarifying what is required in order to advance within an organisation. Employees with leadership potential should then be assessed against these competencies to reveal areas in which they need further development.

ED&I Checklist

SIP have developed an ‘Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Checklist’ that presents some practical, actionable steps that Life Sciences employers can use to assess their current position and inform future action. The second phase of our work will be to pilot the checklist with SIP employers in 2022/23.

(January 2022)