Tech committee a job for the boys?

Choice of tech-illiterate male MPs sparks anger

The government’s advisory Science and Technology Committee has come under fire for unveiling a list of tech-illiterate men.

the science and technology committee, which advises government on issues relating to industry, policy and research, has come under fire for unveiling a list of tech-illiterate men.

At a time when UK education and industry policy has championed the importance of improving gender representation in STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) subjects and jobs, the initial selection of committee members listed eight men and no women.

Ironically, one of the central streams of work for the previous committee was “closing the STEM skill gap”, and a Campaign for Science and Engineering spokesperson told PC Pro the all-male committee was “a blow to the community”.

Gender aside, it’s also debatable whether many of the members are qualified to sit on such a committee. Only two of the initial eight-man committee have a background in science subjects – Darren Jones, with a human bioscience degree and experience as a telecommunications and technology solicitor, and Graham Stringer, with a degree in chemistry.

Candidates are put forward by their parties for posts on the committee, meaning potential members might be chosen more for their recent adherence to party lines than their aptitude for the role. “What are the credentials to join this committee? Absolutely none,” Athene Donald, professor of experimental physics and an equality campaigner at the University of Cambridge, said in a blog post.

“I do not believe a degree in a science subject should necessarily be a prerequisite, [but] I do not feel optimistic about their decision- making ability, however hard they work. Under the current process there seems no oversight and a general lack of clarity as to whose responsibility these problems might be.”

Even Stringer is an odd choice given that he is one of the few scientists aligned with climate-change deniers, having worked with groups aiming to block green energy initiatives. “It is deeply troubling that Graham Stringer, with a bona fide chemistry degree, is the one who is a climate change denier, working as a trustee for Nigel Lawson’s Global Warming Policy Foundation,” said Donald.

It’s not the first time the committee has included members who appear unsuited to the role, highlighting the frailty of the selection process. David Tredinnick MP was a member of the committee from 2013 to 2015, yet campaigned for various alternative medicines and in 2014 told MPs that “astrology and complementary medicine would help take the huge pressure off doctors”.

In the hours following the announcement and its inevitable backlash, the Conservative Party did scratch around and find a woman willing to take up one of the three remaining positions on the committee. Vicky Ford was added after the committee’s chairman put out a plea to party whips to find female representatives, but with a maths and economics degree, and a track record of work on digital policy in Europe, she may feel overqualified.