Written Evidence Submitted by Dr Emma Yhnell

(DIV0070)

Introduction

As a female scientist and a first generation academic, who has been involved in Higher Education, scientific research and academia for over thirteen years, I felt compelled to submit a personal written submission to the inquiry on diversity in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). I have always loved science, I have a successful scientific career and I am incredibly proud to be a scientist, but systemic diversity and inclusion issues continue to lead me to question if an academic career in science is for me.

I studied an undergraduate degree in Biochemistry at Cardiff University in 2012, before staying to complete a PhD in Behavioural Neuroscience and Huntington’s disease in 2015. I was then employed on short-term research contracts, before obtaining a research fellowship from the Welsh Government, funded through Health and Care Research Wales, to work with patients and families impacted by Huntington’s disease. In 2019, I began my current role as a lecturer in Neuroscience at Cardiff University, School of Biosciences. In addition to teaching and research, I have considerable expertise in science communication, public engagement and the public understanding of science. I am the elected equity, diversity and inclusion representative to the British Neuroscience Association and I have an interest in matters of equity, equality, inclusion and diversity in STEM.

I would be happy to give additional evidence to the committee if required.

Executive Summary

The written submission is a personal submission which uses qualitative and quantitative evidence and anecdotes to focus on the underrepresentation of women, with a particular emphasis on science.

Main Evidence

1. The nature or extent to which women, ethnic minorities, people with disabilities and those from disadvantaged socioeconomic backgrounds are underrepresented in STEM in academia and industry;

The underrepresentation of women in senior roles in academia

There is now a significant body of research literature which recognises that the proportions of students in science subjects at A-Level[1],[2] and at undergraduate level[3] are similar between males and females. However, after graduate level, the number of women reduces at every stage of academic seniority and women are underrepresented in senior academic, management and leadership roles[4],[5],[6][7]. Women make up one in five academics at Professorial level and one in ten at the highest level of University Leadership[8]. Science subjects do not retain women at senior levels and because of this academia loses many incredibly talented and highly educated female academics due to the so called “leaky pipeline”.

2. The reasons why these groups are underrepresented;

The academic culture and climate

To understand why women are underrepresented at the senior levels in academia, it is important to understand the academic culture and climate. The increasing use of metrics has contributed to a cutthroat academic environment which is extremely competitive. Metrics typically include grant income and peer reviewed academic publications. The necessity of academics to publish in peer reviewed journals has led to a coining of the phrase “publish or perish”.

Female academics in STEM have been found to have lower publication rates compared to men[9] and there is a disparity in authorship based on gender, with women representing a minority of authors in peer reviewed academic publications[10],[11].

Academic contracts at the postdoctoral levels are by enlarge funded by external grant income, this leads to STEM researchers being employed on short, fixed-term contracts. Precarious contracts are problematic, they often mean that you are looking for the next job having only just been confirmed in post. Practically, it is difficult to get a mortgage with these types of contracts and they have also been shown to be more detrimental to women than men[12],[13]. The underrepresentation of women in more senior roles in STEM exacerbates the gender pay gap. Women in academia are paid less than men, despite having the same qualifications and completing the same jobs[14],[15].

Workload

A UCU Workload Survey Report from the University College Union (UCU) found that academic staff in Higher Education (HE) institutions across all disciplines work an average of 50.9 hours per week, which is more than two working days of unpaid work per week[16]. While there is a concerning expectation in academia to overwork, having the ability to be able to work additional hours is luxury which many women and others from represented groups are unable to afford, even if they wanted to, due to caring responsibilities. The impact of COVID-19 on women and particularly mothers and those with caring responsibilities has been widely recognised[17],[18] and this impact is further demonstrated in academic roles.

Furthermore, the nature of academic workloads also negatively impacts women. Typical roles and responsibilities of academics can include: writing grants, conducting research, writing and editing publications, peer reviewing publications, preparing teaching materials, marking student work, providing pastoral support for students (a role which has significantly increased because of the COVID-19 pandemic) and completing administrative work.

The percentage of time spent on teaching and teaching-related activities (including planning content, marking content and providing pastoral support to students) in academia has a negative association with academic seniority[19]. Research has found that female academics are typically given or expected to take on additional administrative and pastoral roles in comparison to their male counterparts[20],[21]. Pastoral and administrative work is not typically recognised in promotion benchmark criteria. Both female and more junior academics typically have workloads with higher percentages of teaching and teaching related activities than males[22].  As women tend to occupy more junior academic roles, the increased workload associated with teaching and teaching related activities both causes and results in the gender pay gap observed in academia and Higher Education.

Furthermore, a recent Independent Review of Research Bureaucracy highlighted that “bureaucracy constrains the research process, making it risk averse and inefficient”[23]. Given that research highlights the lack of proportionality in the allocation of tasks within academic workloads it is likely that women are negatively impacted by academic bureaucracy in particular.

It is my view that the academic system and culture creates a toxic environment, which is fundamentally not inclusive, particularly for women. There is an over reliance on fixed term research contracts, cutthroat competition to win copious amounts of grant funding and to “publish or perish” and a concerning normalisation of enormous workloads which are simply unsustainable. The existing academic culture therefore promotes a system in which underrepresented groups, including women are excluded.

3. The implications of these groups being underrepresented in STEM roles in academia and industry;

The implications of women and other minority groups being underrepresented in science and STEM roles in academia are numerous.

A burden on already underrepresented groups

The lack of women in senior roles in science and academia places a burden on the few women who occupy these roles. For example, to ensure gender balance on panels or committees, the same women are continually approached which increases their already overburdened workloads.

A lack of role models and reinforcement of issues

In Higher Education, students see a lack of role models in academic staff, particularly at the more senior levels. Students in Universities do not see people who look like them in senior roles of leadership and management. The toxic academic culture and climate is often (perhaps unintentionally) reinforced because the narrow demographic of leaders and managers.

Each academic will bring their own experiences to their role, based on their own background, upbringing and other protected characteristics. Academia and HE are sectors which are driven by people. A lack of diversity in the people who make up academia will ultimately only be detrimental to the academic establishment and the purposes which it serves.

4. What has been done to address underrepresentation of particular groups in STEM roles;

Initiatives to get more girls and young women into STEM

There have been considerable and laudable efforts to attract more girls into science and STEM subjects[24],[25],[26]. By enlarge; these efforts seem to have improved rates of uptake in STEM and science subjects for girls and young women in schools and at undergraduate level. However, despite these initiatives, the underrepresentation of women in senior roles in academia is stark because women are not retained in academic roles.

(January 2022)