WISE opens awards nominations to recognise inspirational women

WISE opens awards nominations to recognise inspirational women

11 June 2014

Do you know an inspirational woman or girl working in technology, science or engineering? Why not nominate them for an award that celebrates the contribution women and girls are making to British education, media and industry through their work in STEM (science, technology, engineering, maths)?

Nominations are now open for the WISE awards, recognising the diversity of women and girls working in technical areas from schoolroom to boardroom. The 2014 awards mark the 30th anniversary of the WISE campaign promoting women in science, technology and engineering. The ten awards fit into two strategic areas. The Making the Case category is for individual women and girls who are inspiring the next generation to study and work in STEM by showing how they can make a difference. Building and Sustaining the Pipeline celebrates those whose actions have increased the recruitment, retention and progression of women in STEM organisations or sectors where women are currently under-represented.  

WISE is delighted to welcome Bloomberg, the global leader in business and financial information, news and analysis, as the awards headline sponsor.  Bloomberg will be hosting the daytime programme in conjunction with WISE, featuring sessions on the topic of ‘The STEM workforce we want to build for the next 30 years.’ Christine Flounders, London R&D Lead, Bloomberg L.P. comments "Innovation happens by doing things differently. Bloomberg has consistently been about using technology to create better ways to make decisions, to gain insights, to increase transparency and to connect people. Bloomberg has been able to do this through a diverse set of ideas and ways of thinking. We are committed to increasing the representation of diverse groups in the technical community and beyond in order to improve our business and our communities worldwide." 

WISE is grateful to a number of organisations whose support makes these awards a reality including Babcock (sponsoring the WISE Hero award), the Royal Academy of Engineering (sponsoring the WISE Recruiter award) and Halliburton (sponsoring the WISE Lifetime Achievement Award). 

Working in science and technology offers good career prospects with interesting job roles, higher than average pay and opportunities to travel. There is currently high demand for employees with a maths and physics background.  However, it is well known that more men than women work in STEM careers often due to unintentional bias.  Celebrating women's contributions in technical roles, the WISE awards help to support the opening up of female opportunities and the breaking down of gender stereotypes.

Saheefa Ishaq, from The Redmoor Academy, who won the WISE Girl award in 2013, says “There are some young women out there who will not pursue careers they love, simply because they think it is a man’s profession. Wrong. Some of the best scientists and engineers in the world are women and it is so important not to let your gender, affect your life choices - follow what you love. Imagine how it could affect you...”

Previous winners confirm how the WISE awards have encouraged them in their work. 

Kathryn Boulton-Pratt, Assistant Head of Science at Sheffield High School, who won the WISE Advisor award, says “To have my work recognised through the award was amazing.  In the last few months I have been approached by a number of people from different organisations offering help and / or opportunities for both my students and myself. This has been great as it’s usually me doing all the approaching and asking for things.”

Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal, patron of the WISE campaign, has once again been invited to present the Awards at a prestigious dinner at the newly-opened 5 star Grange Tower Bridge Hotel in London on 13 November 2014. This will follow a daytime programme of speakers, workshops and knowledge sharing sessions.

A small number of sponsorship opportunities remain (including the WISE advisor award) offering the chance to demonstrate commitment to getting more women into science, keeping them in and helping them to rise to the top.  Details are available on the WISE website, www.wisecampaign.org.uk

The deadline for nominations is 22 August 2014.

See a full list of the awards categories and download nomination papers

Follow the awards on Twitter @thewisecampaign #WISEAwards2014.

For further information, contact Sarah Shaw, Director of Communications, via email s.shaw@wisecampaign.org.uk or phone 07545 208530.