イギリスにおける女性の活躍とキャリア教育(研究ノート)

In the United Kingdom Women's Business Council was set up by the Government in 2012 with the aim of advising Ministers on how to maximize women's contribution to economic growth. Its members are all business people working in a range of sectors including advertising, recruitment, enterprise, retail, legal, financial and pharmaceutical. The council comprises 10 women and two men from business. Chair of the Council is Ruby McGregor Smith, CBE, who is Chief Executive, MITIE Group PLC. Ruby is a working mother with two children, a daughter and a son. The Council's report “Maximising women's contribution to future economic growth" was published in June 2013. The council recognizes the fact that there are currently 2.4 million women who are not working and want to work and over 1.3 million women who want to work more hours. And there are much less women entrepreneurs than men. And the Council thinks as this. By equalizing the labour force participation rates of men and women , the UK could further increase GDP per capita growth by 0.5 percentage points per year, with potential gains of 10% of GDP by 2030. If women were setting up and running new business at the same rate as men, there could be 1 million more women entrepreneus. The women's Business Council(WBC) reviewed the lifecycle of women and work, forcusing on common experience at each stage of life and the key transitions where potential is lost. In Starting out ,they consider education into work. Whilst girls are out-performing boys in academic achievement,they are much less likely to choose the subjects: science technology, engineering and mathematics(STEM subjects). They think that to improve the careers education and guidance is very important especially for girls and young women. Getting on; the middle phase of women's careers is identified as an area where potential and experience is often lost, especially as women combine childcare and work. They think it important supporting culture change in business through the promotion and adoption of flexible working. In Staying on they consider the mid-late career stage. They think retraining for women is necessary in order to take advantage of employment opportunities in growing sectors. They also included a chapter on Enterprise. They think it necessary to embed enterprise in the education system so girls see enterprise as a viable career option and to equip them with the skills they need to start up their own business.