On International Women’s Day 2025, we celebrate the women shaping conservation science and bringing their dedication and passion to the GWCT.
GWCT has come a long way since its inception, starting with only five men but with women now making up 65% of our staff and 64% of our research team. Encouragingly, in the UK, the number of women in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and maths) has doubled over the past decade, now reaching over a million.
Teresa Dent our long-term CEO, agrees that we are on an upward trend with regards to attracting more women into science and agriculture, but that there is still work to be done:
“I think women are well-represented in science now. In the land-based sector there are still relatively few women farm managers and even fewer gamekeepers. The rural sector has a longer path to travel in this respect; it should not be resting on its laurels.”
In the UK, only 17% of UK farmers are women. However, in 2022, the number of women studying agriculture doubled, and today, 25% more women than men are enrolling in agricultural courses.
Martha Hayes, Environmental Farmers Group (EFG) Officer for Northern Lincs and director of her family farm, feels that in order to continue to attract more females into agriculture, we need to keep breaking down stereotypes:
“It shouldn’t be unusual to say that you are female farmer, the industry is on the whole is hugely encouraging and supportive of any young person looking to make agriculture their career. We have seen some incredible role models taking on pivotal roles in the sector, the likes of Minette Batters, Teresa Dent, and Caroline Mason, and I think this has been fundamental in inspiring more females to get involved.”
We have asked a cross-section of the GWCT’s female staff to reflect on their experiences and what drives them: