Women in science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and management

This report satisfies one of the objectives of the Working Group on Women in STEMM at Defence Research and Development Canada (DRDC), namely, to create awareness within DRDC about challenges faced by women in STEMM, and contributes to the aim of developing an action plan for achieving a balanced representation of women in non-traditional roles. [...] Further, only 11 of 60 members of the Canadian Science and Engineering Hall of Fame are women (18%); 22 out of 186 prizes worth more than $200,000 were awarded to women by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) between 2004 and 2014 (12%); and 23 out of 202 people named to the Royal Society of Canada’s Academy of Sciences in the past four years have been women (11%; Schwartz [...] In the 50 largest publicly traded corporations in each nation of the European Union, women made up, on average, 11% of the top executives, and 4% of the CEOs and heads of boards. [...] In addressing one of the four groups targeted under the Employment Equity Act (women, persons with disabilities, members of visible minorities, and Aboriginal peoples), the WG on Women in STEMM at DRDC is responsible for supporting the EE Champion and for developing and implementing an action plan in accordance with the vision and objectives of the WG. [...] The first section, this Introduction, sets the context and identifies the main issues related to women in STEMM, particularly with respect to unconscious or implicit bias, and outlines the mandate of the WG on Women in STEMM at DRDC, including the aim of this report.