Recruitment bias blocking STEM talent returning to work

Bias among recruiters relating to age, gender, ethnicity and perceived lack of recent experience is preventing STEM professionals from returning to the industry, a new study has found. After a career break, the number of STEM professionals submitting over 50 applications before landing a role has risen across almost every age demographic in the last year.

Britain faces a number of challenges in the coming years which it is depending on its research and science segments to help handle. From basing its economy more around technological advancement, to helping businesses and public entities address their emissions goals – the STEM community is a key cog in the UK’s future success.

Unfortunately, the UK is currently in the grips of a major shortage of STEM skills. Previous research has suggested that that the STEM sector has a shortfall of some 173,000 workers. Most recently, this saw the UK Commission for Employment & Skills find that 43% of STEM vacancies were hard to fill – primarily due to a lack of applicants with the required skills and experience.

In simple terms, the slow rate of new, suitably skilled workers joining the industry means there is not talent added to the pool year-on-year to significantly address this shortfall. If employers want to fill gaps quickly across key fields, including engineering, defence, aerospace, and energy, they will need to be more willing to on-board returners. But a new study from STEM Returners suggests the opposite may be happening.

Polling STEM professionals who had taken a career break, the researchers found that the lead reason was childcare responsibilities – still at 28% (a small decline from 31% in 2023). Other leading causes were someone’s relocation (rising to 21% from 18%), and illness (at around 16%). At the same time, around 18% said redundancy had led them to take a career break. Fewer than 15% of breaks were a matter of personal choice.

However, while most career breaks came as a result of matters beyond a job applicant’s control, most recruiters in the sector seem to have taken it personally – and may be deprioritising returner applications as a result. According to the study, 51% of respondents said a perceived lack of recent experience was a barrier to entry, up from 38% in the 2023 survey – with the number finding job hunting ‘very difficult’ rising from 51% in 2023, to 65% in 2024.

Other factors besides recent experience also paint a damning picture of STEM recruiters. Even as the sector complains of a talent shortfall, more than a third of applicants said they felt they had encountered age-related bias – while more than 20% said their ethnicity, or disability had made it harder to re-enter the STEM workforce.

As a result, the number of returners having to apply to more than 50 jobs in their search for work rose across almost every age group. STEM returners aged between 18-24 saw the biggest leap, from under 10% in 2023 to more than a quarter in 2024. Meanwhile 40% of those aged between 55-64 said they had to apply for over 50 jobs – up from 24% the previous year.

Natalie Desty, director of STEM Returners, commented, “It’s disappointing to see that returners are still being penalised because of a gap on their CV. We know that most people do not take a career break out of choice – only 15% of our survey’s respondents said it was their choice to take a career break. So why are more people being penalised for a lack of recent experience when for many, it’s something that cannot be helped? It’s particularly concerning to see more people saying they’ve experienced bias against their health and disability status.”

STEM Returners works with leading STEM organisations like BAE Systems, E.ON, Leonardo UK and Boeing, to support people back to work. Through paid, 12-week placements, candidates are able to rejoin the workforce in a supportive environment. They receive mentoring and career coaching and at the end of the placement have the opportunity to become a permanent member of staff in the host organisation.

Desty added, “There are growing skills gaps across the engineering, tech and green jobs sectors that returners are ready and waiting to fill. More people saying they are experiencing bias suggests that discrimination in the recruitment process is systemic and industry leaders must do more to update recruitment practices and challenge unconscious bias to give returners a fair chance to rejoin the industry they are passionate about.”