TODAY (Feb 11) marks the 7th annual International Day of Women and Girls in Science.
Established by the UN in 2015, this awareness day seeks to highlight the importance of science and gender equality to achieving internationally agreed sustainable development goals.
Although significant inroads have been made in inspiring and engaging women and girls in science and more are studying STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) subjects at all levels of education, they still appear to be underrepresented in science-based roles in the workplace.
At Grotech Production Ltd much of what we do is based on science and we have a small technical team which works with customers on developing formulations, improving product performance and carrying out a range of quality assurance activities.
In 2021 we were pleased to welcome Jessica Hughes to the team in the role of Laboratory Assistant. Jessica had studied Biological Sciences for three years at Durham University and after particularly enjoying the diagnostic lab work and experiments involved wanted a science-based role which offered variety.
Her role with us delivers just that. She is responsible for quality control work, ensuring the products we make fit the specifications stipulated by customers, plus environmental monitoring making sure any waste liquid from our manufacturing processes is safe to be discharged into the mainstream wastewater system. Project work, working on formulations and troubleshooting to get to the root of why a product might not be behaving as expected, adds another dimension to her role as does monitoring and keeping up to date the company’s safety data sheet database.
As Jess says, ‘no two days are ever the same’ here and she enjoys the diversity that comes from ‘working on fertilisers one day and flower food the next’.
“I’m always learning something new which is important to me. I want to continue learning and developing my skills. It can be very rewarding work especially when there’s been a problem with a process and you’ve been able to fix it or been set a challenge by a customer and they are pleased with what we’ve come up with in response,” she explained.
Some 33 people applied for Jess’ role and while we always believe in appointing the best person for the job regardless of gender, having a mix of men and women in the work force provides a variety of perspectives and approaches which adds depth to an organisation.
Jess didn’t choose a career rooted in science because it might challenge the stereotypical norm. It is where her interests and talent lay so choosing maths and sciences to study at A Level and then a science degree was a natural choice for her. She does agree however that having greater diversity whether that is in gender, race or any other aspect that differentiates us as individuals, is a good thing.
“The wider the life experiences of people who work within science, the more varied both the input and results are likely going to be. That can only be an advantage,” she commented.
While Jess may be our first female technical team member, she isn’t our last. We are pleased to have welcomed a female intern, Emily, thus achieving a 50/50 male / female balance within the team and doing our bit for gender equality within science.
