ABOUT Women’s Leadership in STEM Industries

The second edition of our annual women’s conference, titled “Powering the UK’s Future Economy: Women’s Leadership in STEM Industries,” will be hosted on International Women in Engineering Day (INWED) 23rd June 2026 and will serve as a platform to explore how both government and industry can advance women’s access to and progression within the STEM economy.  

Assystem is committed to supporting women into technical and senior roles in STEM Industries, particularly the nuclear sector, to ensure that women hold a 50:50 stake in delivering the new era of low-carbon power and infrastructure development across the UK.  

Following the release of the 2025 Women & Work All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) industry report, Assystem’s 2nd edition of the event will focus on the report’s key recommendations, ones that champion women’s representation in STEM industries and zoom in on the progression of women inside the UK nuclear sector:

  • Build a gender-inclusive skills pipeline for the future economy to ensure women can access and progress through the skills pathways needed for AI, digital, engineering, and growth sectors.
  • Make growth industries genuinely accessible and safe for women by removing the practical and cultural barriers that stop women from entering or staying in construction, engineering, manufacturing, and other growth sectors.
  • Unlock women’s economic participation through fair investment and safe digital environments to ensure women can start businesses, lead in innovation, and participate confidently in public and digital life.

The conference will highlight the strategic value of establishing greater gender balance within the STEM industries and explore the impact on the UK’s low-carbon economy if women continue to be marginalised across the engineering and nuclear sectors. Shaped around this mission, the event will focus on translating insights into tangible actions from industry and government to help reinforce and accelerate female representation and leadership within the UK’s workforce.

Speaker spotlight

19 May 2026

The event will bring together leaders from the UK nuclear industry, the wider energy sector and policymakers, including:

  • Simon Bowen, Nuclear Chairman, Great British Energy
  • Maggie Brown, Strategy and Commercial Development Manager, EDF
  • Claire Angliss, Head of Organisational Development, Rolls-Royce SMR

Our panel sessions will explore steps the UK needs to take to create diverse and robust teams to deliver its key energy infrastructure projects:

  • PANEL 1: How the Government and the private sector can work together to deliver the recommendations from the 2025 Women and Work APPG report to drive forward women’s contribution to the UK’s STEM sector
  • PANEL 2: How do we encourage more women to enter the engineering sector and build high-quality STEM careers 

Incrediblewomen:

Since 2010, Assystem has invested in a dedicated programme IncredibleWoman, to increase the number of women in the company, and particularly those in technical roles. Driven by the knowledge that gender imbalance is harmful not only for society but for the optimal success of complex projects, Assystem is committed to taking action to move the dial and initiate real change that will create more female leadership on nuclear and other energy transition projects.

The UK’s future economy depends on fully unlocking the talent and leadership potential of women across STEM. The second edition of Powering the UK’s Future Economy: Women’s Leadership in STEM Industries is about turning intent into action. At Assystem, we’re committed to supporting women into leadership roles and addressing the barriers that still exist across these sectors.

In industries like nuclear power, we’re seeing growing opportunities for women to contribute at every level—from engineering and project delivery to strategic leadership—playing a critical role in delivering the UK’s low-carbon future. This conference brings together voices and ideas that will help accelerate that progress and drive meaningful, lasting change across our industries.
Jill Williams Head of Marketing & Communications Assystem UK

highlights

Check out our highlights from our 2025 event in the video below!