Assystem Conference Platforms Women Driving the Future of UK STEM Industries

To mark International Women in Engineering Day (23^rd June 2026), Assystem, alongside the Women and Work All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) is hosting the second edition of its annual women’s conference, titled “Powering the UK’s Future Economy: Women’s Leadership in STEM Industries”.

Following the release of the 2025 Women & Work All Party Parliamentary Group report (of which Assystem has been a long-term sponsor), this year’s event will bring parliamentarians and leading women in STEM industries together to discuss how to make quick progress on recommendations from the report to build strong pipeline of women and girls choosing STEM careers.

The backdrop to this year’s conference is evidence of a backwards trend for women in STEM, as the recent POWERful Women State of the Nation report has uncovered that in the past year:

• 22 energy company boards removed at least one woman, compared to just five the year before,
• the number of all-male boards has increased and,
• more than half of energy companies remain below the 40% target for female representation.

With more than 400,000 new clean energy jobs expected by 2030, the UK’s energy transition presents a rare opportunity to address both skills shortages and economic inequality. Expanding women’s participation in high-value STEM careers can help close pay gaps, increase household earnings and improve financial outcomes for families. By enabling more women to access the sectors driving future growth, the UK can strengthen its talent pipeline, enhance productivity and ensure the benefits of the energy transition are shared more widely across society.

To advocate for change, this year’s event features leading voices from Rolls-Royce SMR, EDF, Toyota, Great British Energy-Nuclear, the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) and guests from across the public and private sectors.

With over 60 years of experience in managing some of the world’s most complex engineering challenges, Assystem has long been committed to supporting the development of women’s skills as technical and senior leaders within the nuclear industry.

Since 2010, Assystem, has invested in a dedicated programme IncredibleWomen, to increase the number of women in the company, and particularly those in technical roles. Driven by the understanding that gender imbalance poses a real threat to the optimal success of complex projects, Assystem is committed to initiating real change that will create more female leadership on nuclear and other energy transition projects.