Are we still facing gender challenges in Life Sciences?

After recently attending the UK Bioindustry Association event, Women in Biotech, we were inspired to learn more about the women who work within our sector. In order to find out more about the experiences of the female candidates and clients we work alongside, we invited them to reflect on their career journey and share their thoughts.

Whilst exact numbers of women working within Life Sciences can vary and may be updated periodically, research provides a general picture of the gender distribution in the sector.

According to data from the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) and other industry reports, women constitute approximately 54% of the overall pharmaceutical workforce in the UK.

The representation of women versus men in the UK pharmaceutical industry has long been a subject of analysis, reflecting broader trends towards gender diversity and equality. According to the BIA's Diversity and Inclusion in UK Biotech report, there are significant diversity gaps as women make up only 32% of senior executives and 26% of chief executives in biotech. Gender balance is also skewed in scientific posts: women account for 35% of biomanufacturing and engineering roles and 30% in digital and computational occupations.

We were interested to find out if the women in our network believe that there are barriers within this industry which stop women progressing. Samantha, who works as a Lab Technician within Biotech told us “Early in my career I had the feeling that I would never succeed unless I progressed onto a PhD and then work 10 times harder to prove myself - the inequality within the sector did at times make me lose the drive to work and enjoy the work”

Idorenyin, who is a Global Regulatory Operations Specialist within Medical Devices said “I think the barriers are mostly from a young age when girls are taught to dance and paint and the boys are taught to take interest in cars, technology and science. To improve this science outreach should be done to both boys and girls in primary school.”

This would perhaps support the noticeable difference between the amount of females and males in STEM education that decreases continually after GCSE level education. After GCSEs, only 35% of females choose to study STEM subjects, with this decreasing to 25% of females choosing to study them at university.

Cultural opinion can create a misconception that STEM subjects are ‘meant for boys’ which can therefore be off-putting for girls to apply for or sit in classes where they may be one of a few girls or even the only girl in the class.

Reports suggest that women hold around 30% of senior management positions and even fewer in executive board roles, though this number is gradually increasing due to targeted diversity and inclusion initiatives.  Recognising the gaps is crucial because it helps our sector remain committed to addressing them and making meaningful change. 

Ellen, who works as a Research Assistant told us, ‘Yes, it is a heavily male dominated sector. I have worked in a small Biotech start up where all employees were male and were in track to be graduating with a PhD which added to the challenge. Biotech within academia is also very male dominated which makes it hard to be heard. I was also told one of the reasons I was hired for the role was to diversify the team, which has been a big drive for previous hires in my position. It's disheartening to hear.”

Diverse teams are known to drive innovation, a critical factor in the pharma industry. Women bring unique perspectives that lead to more comprehensive research and development processes.

Kate, who is a Clinical Trials Manager told us, "I think women are rarely key decision holders in STEM, I think more focus on wider discussion within companies at all levels and including women on decision boards would help"

Despite perhaps having room for improvement, the ratio of women working within global pharma industry is above average - women make up 54.2% of the pharma workforce in England, which is slightly higher than the national average of 50.7%. However, across the sector, men’s median hourly pay was 10% higher than that of women. This puts the pharmaceutical industry below the national average of 11.6%. 

We asked Chloe, who is a Compliance Director, to share with us some thoughts about her own experiences as she reflects on her career within Life Sciences.

What first drew you to a career in Life Sciences, was it something that attracted you at an early age or was it something that came later in your academic life?

I came to work in life sciences by accident. I had always been interested in project management and assumed this would be my career path in another industry, however I started a role in international regulatory affairs for a medical technology company and have never looked back.

As a woman working within this sector, in your opinion, are there any gender challenges that you have faced? 

My experience in this is that women are very highly recognised and respected in this sector, especially in the area of regulatory and quality affairs. Unlike some other industries it is typical for the compliance leadership team to be predominantly made up of females. I have been led by and am now leading a team of highly professional female colleagues and I think this type of role lends itself to the skill set women bring to an organisation. I have only faced gender inequality once after I had children, where I was made to feel that a colleague who did not have children would be more able to dedicate the time required to the organisation, however I feel this was more reflective of the individual, another female, than it was of how the organisation viewed women with children overall.

Reports suggest that women remain significantly underrepresented in senior positions within the Pharma and Life Sciences and studies reveal that teenage girls are 10 times more likely than boys of the same age to anticipate gender-related hurdles on their path to becoming leaders. Has this been typical of your experience?

I'd say this is accurate based on my experience.

In your personal experience, do you believe that there barriers within this industry which stop women progressing? If so, what do you think can be done to improve this going forward?

I have not personally experienced barriers within this industry. However I have experienced "impostor syndrome" myself, even recently taking the step up to being a female in a leadership position. I feel more could be done in all industries to support women feeling empowered to go for this type of role, personally I have found women often doubt themselves and what they can bring to the organisation, rather than being doubted or overlooked for these roles intentionally due to gender.

What do you love most about the role you do within this industry? 

I love the complexity and challenge of a role within this industry, as well as feeling the sense of importance of what you are doing to help improve patients lives. 

What do you see yourself doing five years from now?

I see myself still within this industry, hopefully facing a new and exciting challenge within my career.

In your career, are there any notable changes to the working environment within your specialism that you could share with us?

When I originally joined this industry, I would say there was less emphasis on developing female talent within an organisation. I think there has been a noticeable shift in how women are treated in the workplace in relation to flexibility and understanding around the fact that in a lot of cases women in leadership are also still the main caregiver for their children. My experience is that this has been accelerated due to the Covid pandemic and more flexibility in working patterns and locations associated with this period. I hope over time employers don't chose to revert back to a less flexible model and remain able to offer women the flexibility to achieve in both their professional and personal lives.

And finally, for anyone who might be looking to start a career within your sector, what would your advice be?

My advice would be to take all the opportunities that are available within an organisation, even if an opportunity seems too complex or outside of your comfort zone. Often these are the experiences that help shape your career the most.

So, what can companies do to improve Gender Balance?

• Diversity Programs:

Many pharmaceutical companies have implemented diversity programs aimed at increasing the representation of women in all levels of the workforce, particularly in senior leadership roles.

• Flexible Working Policies:

Policies that support work-life balance, such as flexible working hours and parental leave, have been introduced to attract and retain more women in the industry. 3.

• Mentorship and Career Development:

Programs focused on mentorship, sponsorship, and career development for women are helping to address barriers to advancement and support women in climbing the career ladder.

• Enhanced Maternity/Paternity Packages:

These incentives are tailored to allow women who have historically been the primary care giver within their family unit an opportunity to work more flexibly around working patterns and for families to share parental responsibilities more evenly.

• Consider ‘Blind’ Hiring Processes:

By tackling unconscious bias in a recruitment process, organisations can ensure that everyone is given an equal opportunity to be considered for a job.

• Increased representation and exposure of women and diversity:

Communicating diversity and demonstrating the representation of women via internal communications and employer brand materials, as well as exposure on the company website, social media and external communications.

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For businesses operating within life sciences and healthcare, it’s important to take steps to increase diversity within the business and ensure your hiring process is inclusive and attracts a diverse range of talent. 

We hope you have found these insights helpful. Carrot Recruitment and our wider group, Compass Recruitment Solutions are proud to celebrate the incredible strides made towards gender equality and reaffirm our commitment to continuing that progress within our company. We're proud of our Northstar Program, which is dedicated to helping the women in our business fulfil their ambitions. A key part of this program is our mentoring initiative, where mentors and mentees connect, share experiences, and grow together.

If you’d like to find out more about this topic, we'd recommend the following sources:

https://www.millenniumpoint.org.uk/stem-education-2/

https://academic.oup.com/advertising-and-corporate-services/pages/breaking-the-glass-ceiling-promoting-gender-diversity-and-inclusion-in-pharma

https://www.csgtalent.com/insights/blog/gender-disparities-within-life-sciences-and-the-need-to-increase-female-representation-in-the-industry/