Women in SET

Find out more about the Imperial College Women in SET (Science, Engineering and Technology) Society.

Try this experiment; close your eyes, and imagine a scientist. Now think about the individual who sprang to mind… were they male or female? Perhaps inadvertently, most of us would have had a male figure in mind, and it’s exactly this stereotype the Imperial College Women in SET (Science, Engineering and Technology) Society aims to challenge.

SET areas tend to be male-dominated in academia as well as in the private sector and, here at Imperial, the picture’s no different. In the 2011–12 academic year, male students outnumbered females by two to one on average, with the starkest disparity in the Department of Aeronautics, where males outnumbered females by almost five to one.

Enter the Women in SET Society, one of whose aims is to encourage the next generation of talented females to take up SET subjects at university, which they do by inviting London schoolgirls to campus for an annual open day. 

Laura Johnston (Mathematics) explains: “The main objective of the open day is to provide the young girls with role models. It’s humbling to see how well the girls engage with you and your story, and makes me feel like I've done my bit for the next generation of female scientists!”

Another aspect of the society’s work is to equip female students at Imperial with the skills they need to forge successful careers. Fourth year student Veronica Gouvea (Chemistry) is most proud of career-focused events like last year’s panel discussion Women in Industry, which involved representatives from companies including the Bloomsbury publishing house and the IT consultancy firm, Thoughtworks.

She says: “The events are hands-on and can have a direct impact – lots of girls who attended got internships as a result. For us, it’s about supporting women in whatever career they choose and helping them grow in confidence.”

Society stats

• Meeting times: once a week
• Society size: currently 62 members (both male and female)
• Experience required: none
• More information about Women in SET