The Springboard Consultancy (SBC), a UK-based international training company specialising in addressing women’s development issues, has become a member of WISE.

Following the Finniston Report on the future of engineering in the UK, collaboration between the Engineering Council and the Equal Opportunities Commission, brought about the ‘Women into Science and Engineering (WISE) year’, in 1984. The initiative aimed to highlight career opportunities for girls and women in the science and engineering professions.

Since then, WISE has contributed to a range of campaigns to raise the profile of women and girls taking up careers in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM). The organisation, whose patron is HRH The Princess Royal, advises organisations on how to create environments where women can do their best work and thrive – and its mission is to get 1m more women to join the UK’s STEM workforce.

Liz Willis OBE, Joint-CEO at SBC, said, “We regard WISE as a ‘sister’ organisation, recognising that both our organisations are striving to achieve the same ends.

“All SBC’s programmes empower women to be the best they can be, achieve the most they can achieve – and achieve a beneficial and sustainable life/work balance while staying in tune with their personal and work values and goals,” Liz added. “Individual employers may have additional objectives, such as increasing the numbers of women in under-represented areas or greater numbers of women enrolling on training.

“SBC’s Sprint programme for women undergraduates, originally commissioned as a STEM initiative by the University of Cambridge and developed further by the University of Oxford, enables women undergraduates to tackle their personal, study and career issues, resulting in clearer career goals, improved assertiveness and communication skills, greater focus, less study stress and improved self-confidence. Sprint is now running in 24 UK universities and is attracting corporate sponsorship.

“In addition, SBC’s Springboard programme for women in non-management roles has frequently been used to address career and personal issues by women working in STEM areas – both in industry and in universities. As with all SBC programmes, participants report setting more stretching goals, improved relationships, greater confidence, more focus, greater determination to succeed.”

Delivered through a network of licensed trainers, the Springboard programme has – to date – been used by over 230,000 women in 43 countries. Moreover, the Springboard programme enables employers to develop staff to their fullest potential and is often a key component in any Diversity, Inclusion and/or gender initiatives.

Liz Willis, of The Springboard Consultancy.