Minorities in STEM

Our Goal

The aim of Minorities in STEM is to create a network that can connect, support and showcase the individuals working and studying within STEM.

We want to work with other organisations and industry partners to help them begin to have the conversations that are required to address diversity issues.

There are four key areas that we are focused on:

  • Academia
  • Industry
  • Education
  • Public Engagement

The Background

In early 2017, Alex curated and hosted two Science Showoff events fully fronted by diverse people working with STEM.

Showcasing some of the best diverse talent within science, one bit of audience feedback stuck with him: “I didn’t realise that there were so many other brown people in science like me”

Although Black and Minority Ethnicity (BME) individuals make up 12.8% of the UK population, this is still not reflected within the public’s perception of what a scientist looks like.

Studies have shown that BME representation within the UK STEM workforce is complex – with BME individuals concentrated at both the lower and higher ends of the spectrum.

It is not different within academia, with the Runnymede Trust reporting in 2015 that only 17 professors in the UK were Black Women.

Although data into the general BME STEM population is at an early stage, what these figures describe is a situation in the UK where BME individuals are thinly represented across STEM.