The WISE Campaign (Women into Science and Engineering) encourages women and girls to value and pursue science, technology, engineering and maths-related courses in school or college and move on into related careers and progress. Its mission statement aims to facilitate understanding of these disciplines among women and girls and the opportunities which they present at a professional level. It is operated by

UKRC The UKRC (UK Resource Centre) is a UK organisation for the provision of advice, services and policy consultation regarding the under-representation of women in science, engineering, technology and the built environment (SET). It is funded by the ...

trading as WISE (company number 07533934).WISE website
About us

Formation

The campaign began on 17 January 1984, headed by The Baroness Platt of Writtle, a qualified

mechanical engineer Mechanical may refer to: Machine * Machine (mechanical), a system of mechanisms that shape the actuator input to achieve a specific application of output forces and movement * Mechanical calculator, a device used to perform the basic operations of ...

, at which time women made up 7% of graduate engineers and 3% of professional engineers in the UK. It was a collaboration between the

Engineering Council The Engineering Council (formerly Engineering Council UK; colloquially known as EngC) is the UK's regulatory authority for registration of Chartered and Incorporated engineers and engineering technician, holding a register of these and providin ...

and the Equal Opportunities Commission, originally viewed as a one-year campaign "Women into Science and Engineering" ''WISE'84''.Georgina Ferry, ''

New Scientist ''New Scientist'' is a magazine covering all aspects of science and technology. Based in London, it publishes weekly English-language editions in the United Kingdom, the United States and Australia. An editorially separate organisation publish ...

'' 12 January 1984 pp 10–11 "WISE Campaign for Women Engineers"''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...

'', Wednesday, 18 January 1984 p 3 "More women urged to work in science"

Activities

One of WISE's main objectives is to listen to students and women qualified or working in these sectors, and understand and voice their opinions to academic institutions, policy-makers and employers. It then works creatively with delivery agencies and others, offering models, tools and approaches to support them in challenging traditional approaches, so as to demonstrate equitable involvement. WISE combats gender stereotypes to get more girls and women involved in careers where female participation was once considered near impossible. WISE operates throughout the UK, with specialist committees in Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland. Volunteers, from industry and relevant organisations, attend the various WISE committee meetings, and undertake projects with WISE. In 2011 the UKRC - an organisation specialising in gender equality in science, engineering and technology - became part of WISE.

Trudy Norris-Grey Trudy Norris-Grey is a Welsh businesswoman, and is a well-recognized leader in the U.K., globally and in the Tech industry. In 2020 Trudy was appointed aUCAS' first independent chair of its board of trustees. Trudy was appointed, in 2007, the Cha ...

, the Chair of UKRC since 2007 then became Chair of WISE.WISE website
Board and Team WISE counts

The Princess Royal Princess Royal is a style customarily (but not automatically) awarded by a British monarch to their eldest daughter. Although purely honorary, it is the highest honour that may be given to a female member of the royal family. There have been sev ...

, Dame Julia Higgins, Kate Bellingham and

Joanna Kennedy Dr Joanna Kennedy OBE FREng FICE, (born 22 July 1950), is a British civil engineer and project manager. She is currently a non-executive director of the property company Native Land and a director of the ERA Foundation, having been Global Lead ...

as its patrons. The Founding Chair and Patron The Baroness Platt of Writtle died on 1 February 2015, aged 91.

Young Professionals' Board

The WISE Campaign has an advisory Board to the main Board called the WISE Young Professionals' Board,
WISE Young Professionals' Board formerly the WISE Young Women's Board, with a mandate to act as a sounding board to the WISE Campaign and promote the visibility of young women in STEM. Notable members and former members include: *

Jess Wade Jessica Alice Feinmann Wade (born October 1988) is a British physicist in the Blackett Laboratory at Imperial College London, specialising in Raman spectroscopy. Her research investigates polymer-based organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs). He ...

was a Young Professionals' Board member 2015-2018 and is a campaigner for

Women in STEM Many scholars and policymakers have noted that the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) have remained predominantly male with historically low participation among women since the origins of these fields in the 18th ce ...

and promoting early career researchers.

Structure

It is headquartered at

Leeds College of Building Leeds College of Building in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, is the only further education college in the UK which specialises in the construction industry. It was established in 1960 and currently has about 6,500 students. It has two campuses, ...

, though has been based at the

(UK Resource Centre for Women in Science, Engineering, and Technology) in Bradford.

References

External links

WISE Campaign

Business, Innovation and Skills Committee: Written evidence submitted by the Women into Science and Engineering (WISE) Campaign 11 Oct 2012
''Ingenia'' March 2010, issue 42 pp 48–50
"Engaging girls in engineering" {{DEFAULTSORT:WISE Campaign 1984 establishments in the United Kingdom Educational organisations based in the United Kingdom Organisations based in Bradford Organisations based in Leeds Organizations established in 1984 Organizations for women in science and technology Science and technology in West Yorkshire Women in the United Kingdom Women in engineering Women scientists