Question reference: S6W-09280
- Asked by: Carol Mochan, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
- Date lodged: 23 June 2022
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Current status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 6 July 2022
Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports of female teachers with experience and qualifications in STEM subjects being unable to find employment in a school setting.
Answer
The recruitment and deployment of teachers is a matter for individual local authorities, as they are responsible for using available resources to provide a complement of staff which meets the needs of each of their schools and its pupils based on local needs and priorities.
However, the Scottish Government has a number of ambitions to address the lack of women in STEM occupations and settings, such as schools. These ambitions start early: the Gender Pay Gap Action Plan examines how schools have a key role to play in helping young women make transitions into a broader range of more successful careers, as well as setting out measures which address occupational segregation, which can lead to fewer women accessing STEM careers.
The Gender Equality Taskforce in Education and Learning is also considering how best to ensure that girls and young women are able to freely choose activities, subjects and areas of study including those traditionally dominated by boys and men.
We have provided £240 million of additional investment, over two financial years and a further £145.5 million of permanent funding from April this year to support the employment of additional teachers and support staff.
In addition, we will also fund 3,500 additional teachers and 500 support staff over this Parliamentary term – over and above the 1,400 teachers recruited during the pandemic. We will also continue to work closely with COSLA regarding the employment of teachers, to maximise the number of jobs available.