The race is on for a gender equal workforce through the life sciences industry. In Germany, one third of scientists and engineers are women (33%), significantly behind the European Union average of 40%. How can we address the imbalance? Jamie Remp, Director - Quality, Regulatory, and Engineering at EPM Scientific, discusses the unique position that recruiters play in furthering gender equality.
The 2020 International Women’s Day theme is that an equal world is an enabled world. What does that mean to you in the life sciences industry?
The life sciences industry is still extremely unbalanced when it comes to gender equality. Research has proven that diverse workforces and management teams create more successful businesses, so aside from being the right thing to do, it is also the logical way forwards. We all need to use the start of this decade to drive change by ensuring the industry we work in is far more conscious of diversity when making hiring decisions.
What sort of conversations around gender equality do you have with clients and candidates in your sector?
Over the last 12 months, I have had more conversations around gender equality than ever before. I have worked with some clients who demand gender balanced candidate shortlists from my team, and while it can sometimes be difficult to achieve, it shows that companies are taking the issue seriously and are making the right steps forward.
What role can recruiters play in creating an equal world?
We have a duty to consult our clients on their hiring and decision-making processes. Recruitment Consultants need to be aware of the role we play in helping companies find the right people, meaning that we have to also be putting an emphasis on making our searches and interview processes as inclusive as possible.
What advice would you give to a company trying to create a diverse hiring strategy?
It is really important to have a goal of what you want to achieve at the start of your hiring process, so you can consistently benchmark against it. Another way to try and achieve results is to focus the company's internship programme on targeted groups.
Finally, a company can request its HR department and recruitment agencies to provide blind CVs, can remove any sort of bias from a hiring manager's decision-making.
About us
EPM Scientific is a leading specialist recruitment agency for the Life Sciences industry. We were founded in 2012 to give companies and candidates peace of mind that the recruitment process is in experts hands. Today, we provide permanent, contract and multi-hire recruitment from our global hubs all over the world.