Saturday was International Women’s Day, which was marked by the House of Lords with a debate on 6 March where the Society was mentioned by Viscount Stansgate, Stephen Benn, as part of his role as President of the Parliamentary Scientific Committee. He requested briefing from scientific societies and our current President, Jennifer Humphries, with support from Past President Amber Bannon wrote the briefing within a short timescale. Viscount Stansgate referred to the Society in his part in the debate; view via the Parliament TV and read the written record Hansard (we recommend searching for Stansgate to find the relevant section).

Briefing Statement from SRP on Women in Science
by Jennifer Humphries and Amber Bannon

The Society for Radiological Protection (SRP) sees some areas of good practice in gender parity but other areas of the RP Profession have been slow to work to address this key issue. As an Organisation the Society has had eight female Presidents in the last 62 years. Current President, Jennifer Humphries, is the youngest female to hold the role, having been involved in SRP leadership since 2012, observing and influencing the significant changes seen in the ruling Council since then. Jennifer said; “When I first joined SRP Council, there were only four ladies in the room, and one was the admin support.  I now Chair SRP Council which is close to a 50/50 split of genders (its composition changes slightly each year), with a better range of ages and experience in the room, which makes for a more balanced discussion of key issues.”

Having a visible female leader, supported by a number of women in key leadership roles, has been instrumental in encouraging more women to be active in supporting the Society, especially younger women. ‘You have to see it to be it’. The continued use of MS Teams, following the Covid pandemic, to carry out the majority of the Society’s meetings has made roles more accessible to everyone, especially those with caring responsibilities. Eliminating the need for routine travel ensures that volunteers can fit SRP activities into their working lives, without major disruption, and maintain their work/life balance.

SRP’s Engagement Directorate and Outreach programme, which aims to share knowledge of radiation with the public, including school children, is also currently led by women. SRP’s Engagement Director, Sarah Hunak, writes a popular monthly blog to demystify how supporting a chartered professional society along with maintaining a career is possible.

The Radiation Protection sector has come a long way in its journey to gender equity and SRP is looking forward to maintaining and supporting that momentum.