Académique Documents
Professionnel Documents
Culture Documents
(WWARM)
A WARMNET project, funded through dfes and based at SITA Centre,
Northampton
The Environmental Industry has a gender imbalance with 69% of employees being male and
31% female. It is increasingly being recognised that this balance is due to deep seated
cultural attitudes and results in an internal skills gap. The Waste Management Industry has an
even higher proportion of male employees (>80%) and is at present starting to recognise the
need for action to address this. The turnover for the wider industry is in excess of 4 bn. The
turnover for waste disposal companies alone is in excess of 1 bn. Company profitability is
increasingly being seen as linked to the development of a suitably qualified and motivated
staff base.
To drive forward the agenda, an UK Network for waste management (WARMNET) in HE has
been formed in 2003. This represents around 50 HE Institutions in the UK, some 35 widely
distributed across England. WARMNET is strongly supported by the waste management
industry as well as the Voluntary Sector etc. It is perceived as being the vehicle for a positive
transformation in the relationships between all players in waste management and HE, with the
concomitant benefits in terms of suitably qualified and well prepared graduates entering the
industry.
WWARM will start to address many of the issues relating to the support and development of
female students to empower and enable for a career in the waste management
industry and / or research. Building upon WARMNET developments it will have a
strategy that will deliver, through a range of activities on 3 strands:
Retaining and attracting female students to SET undergraduate and taught postgraduate
courses
Initiate links with employers to enable and encourage female into SET employment
Developing mechanisms to support females in SET onto higher study and research
margaret.bates@northampton.ac.uk
paul.phillips@northampton.ac.uk