Report finds STEM job candidates facing bias after career break

Participants in the STEM Returners Index said they felt they were being penalised for their age, gender, ethnicity and whether they had a disability. Bias against their lack of recent experience was their main barrier to entry, according to the survey.

The STEM Returners Index asks over 1,000 STEM professionals on a career break a range of questions to understand their experiences of trying to re-enter the STEM sector.

In the 2024 Index, more people said they felt they had experienced personal bias in the recruitment system compared to the previous year, (40 per cent in 2024 vs 33 per cent in 2023) and said they found returning to work difficult or very difficult (65 per cent in 2024 vs 51 per cent in 2023).

In total, 51 per cent of respondents said a perceived lack of experience was a barrier to entry, up from 38 per cent in 2023.

In the survey, 26 per cent of women said they felt they have personally experienced bias in the recruitment process due to their gender compared to eight per cent of men. One in five women said they experienced bias due to their childcare responsibilities and 58 per cent of women said they experienced bias because of a lack of experience, an increase from last year’s survey when 10 per cent of women reported this.