Data Analysis

How does the life sciences industry view diversity, equity and inclusion? Based on the results of 483 study responses.

Lack of minority leadership representation is seen as the life sciences' biggest problem with diversity and inclusion

"What do you think is the industry’s biggest problem with diversity and inclusion?"

Over a third of respondents see lack of minority leadership representation as the life sciences' biggest problem with diversity and inclusion, followed by 21% choosing socio-economic challenges in building a diverse workforce.

Looking at the responses to those who thought something else was the biggest problem, we see a number of respondents emphasizing that it is a combination of many problems, whilst a small minority don't see there being any problem, or even the focus on D&I as the problem itself.

Selected 'Other' responses:

"Acceptance and willingness to focus on this as something to fix"
"All of these things contribute. I don't think it's driven by a single big problem"
"Judging on diversity & inclusion instead of competence."
"Low number of minority candidates for open positions."
"Not a priority for many organizations"
"There is no problem"

Why do you think this is the industry’s biggest problem? (Selected responses)

"Having management from diverse background helps maintain a high quality/healthy environment."

"The industry uncomfortable with change that makes current senior leadership believe that a change to 'their world perspective' will give greater advantage to others that don't look or behave like them."

"A more diverse science is a better science. Lack of diverse role models induces to have less diverse people aspiring these positions."

"This issue of structural racism and biases are deep founded across the pharma industry as they are across industries."

"As a society, we are not adequately feeding the pipeline of minority students with STEM education. Pharma companies should be proactive in getting involved in supporting STEM education in minority communities."

"Human beings are prone to promoting those that they see as most similar to themselves."

"The current leadership does not seem to recognize the benefit of diversity in the workplace, and makes no effort to recruit, or identify ways to support recruitment of diverse workforce. Because there are so few scientists from diverse backgrounds, the effort to understand and include is non-existent."

"Lack of opportunity for entry positions, leading to lack of diversity at higher positions."

"Not enough women pursuing engineering or technical-based education or employment."

"Problems with diversity start with lack of minorities in science. That's driven by lack of science/math students at high school level."

"To apply to jobs you are required to have a PhD even if it is not really needed for the job. So you end up having mainly PhDs doing all kinds of jobs, with high traditional thinking and lower pragmatic approaches. Experience is not valued as much as the diploma."

63% think women are under represented
at the most senior levels in their organization

"How well represented do you think women are in the different areas of your organization? Rated 1 - 5, where 1 = Hugely Under represented, 3 = About equally represented and 5 = Hugely over represented"

When asked about the representation of women within respondents' organizations, a nuanced picture emerges. 58% think women are over represented within administrative roles, and within technical roles and mid-level management, many believe women are about equally represented.

However, this is reversed when looking at the most senior positions, where 63% perceive women are under represented within senior management, C-suite and board level.

73% think cultural/ethnic minorities are under represented
at the most senior levels in their organization

"How well represented do you think cultural/ethnic minorities are in the different areas of your organization? Rated 1 - 5, where 1 = Hugely Under represented, 3 = About equally represented and 5 = Hugely over represented"

The picture is slightly different when it comes to representation of cultural/ethnic minorities within organizations, with most respondents seeing them as under represented throughout their companies.

Even within mid-level management, 62% think cultural/ethnic minorities are under represented, and this number jumps to 73% when looking at the most senior levels - and 49% of those think they are 'hugely under represented'.

Female respondents think women are more under represented
at the most senior levels than male respondents

"How well represented do you think women are within Senior management/C-suite/Board of your organization?"

68% of respondents that identified as a minority think cultural/ethnic minorities
are 'hugely under represented' at the most senior levels

"How well represented do you think cultural/ethnic minorities are
within Senior management/C-suite/Board of your organization?"

Delving into the data around representation at the most senior levels a little deeper, we can see that though more female respondents (65%) believe women are under represented, 59% of male respondents do also., showing this is a universal issue.

When looking at the data for cultural/ethnic minorities, those that among those that identify as a minority in the workplace, 68% think they are 'hugely under represented' in senior roles, versus 39% of respondents who don't identify as a minority,

87% of organizations are focusing and investing in improving diversity and inclusion within recruitment to some extent

"How much focus and investment is your organization placing
on improving diversity and inclusion in the following areas?"

The data has so far shown that there is clearly concern within the industry around the representation of women and cultural/ethnic minorities in the life sciences, particularly at the most senior levels. But what is being done to address that?

87% of organizations are focusing and investing in improving diversity and inclusion within hiring and recruitment to some extent, with 23% giving it significant focus. However, these numbers drop for organizations financing diverse groups.

Worryingly, 41% of organizations don't have any outreach training or investment programs to encourage a more diverse workforce.

However, this number varies significantly depending on the size of company. Less than half of those with under 100 employees have such programs, whereas of those with over 500 employees, 78% do.

There is a clear disparity in size between organizations that have
outreach training or investment programs to encourage a more diverse workforce

"Does your organization have any outreach training or investment programs
to encourage a more diverse workforce?"

Number of
employees

32% of organizations have outreach programs to
encourage a more culturally/ethnically diverse workforce

"Does your organization have any outreach training or investment programs to
encourage a more diverse workforce in the following groups?"

Looking more closely at the types of program to encourage a more diverse workforce, schemes to increase the number of women are the most popular with 39% of organizations. This is followed by 32% of organizations that have outreach programs to encourage a more culturally/ethnically diverse workforce, though that varied between 37% in North America and just 26% in Europe.

We also see other disparities between continents, with 16% of North American organizations running programs for veterans, versus just 5% in Europe.

How have the efforts been run and what impact if any have they had? (Selected responses)

"The immediate impact that these groups have had are giving a voice to minority groups in the organization to be heard and discuss issues that affect them in the workplace."

"Actively and publicly communicate our desire to work with diverse, minority, and female populations, founders and startups."

"Creating an internal focus group to collect the voices of female staff to understand their challenges and what the organization could do to help them. As a result, we started to run a day care facility near our lab."

"Educational programs for youth and investment in businesses in lower socioeconomic areas."

"Establishment of Women's Empowerment Network, PRIDE Network and BLM Network. Following these efforts there're obvious changes in company culture and diversity acceptance."

"More woman are now team leaders or senior managers. But education is the main blocker not the gender."

"Internal awareness sessions, trainings, townhalls. Goals for recruitment to interview candidate with diverse backgrounds as well as setting diverse interview panels."

"Hosting women in STEM conferences and networking opportunities."

"It feels like lip service - a reaction to social pressure vs a real, genuine expression of care."

"My organization does a great job in putting diversity and inclusion in the forefront. It's not just talk but action. Lots of seminars, employee resource groups and communication about initiatives."

"Outreach through women's investor groups and minority promotion organizations to include their constituencies in our programs.

"We always start each recruit with a diverse slate of candidates. We believe that we present diverse candidates to clients to work with them, as a priority. Whether they choose to recruit these people diversely is a different story."

Level of seniority affects employees' views on whether their organization provides equal access to opportunities

"Do you believe your employer provides fair treatment and equal access to opportunities?"

66% of respondents believe that their employer provides fair treatment and equal access to opportunities, with only 19% believing they don't. However, these numbers vary a fair amount depending on seniority of the respondents.

The basic pattern shows that the more senior the respondent, the more they believe their organization provides equal opportunities. So at the entry level, just 51% do, compared to 88% of owners and presidents.

Worryingly, 41% claim to have faced workplace bias due to their gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation or other factor, though this varies depending on a number of different factors.

Unsurprisingly this number is higher for female respondents (50%) than male, but also differs across continents. 47% of North American based respondents say they have faced bias, versus 29% of European based. When splitting by organization type, employees of technology providers most frequently felt they faced bias.

41% claim to have faced workplace bias due to their
gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation or other factor

"Have you ever faced any workplace bias due to your gender,
ethnicity, sexual orientation or other factor?"

Looking at those respondents that said they have faced workplace bias, 54% say they experience it infrequently, compared to 13% who claim to face it daily. Not only do more North American based respondents say they face bias, but they also feel they encounter it more frequently.

29% say they face it weekly or daily, compared to 16% of respondents based in Europe.

Of those who say they have faced workplace bias, the
majority say they experience it infrequently

"How often do you face these workplace biases?"
(Only respondents who answered that they had faced workplace bias in previous question)

What challenges with diversity, inclusion, bias or discrimination have you encountered and would like to have addressed? (Selected Responses)

"Age discrimination and experience not being a substitute for a degree."

As a woman, some men often talk over me and interrupt me, despite my high-ranking position in the company."

"Being seen as less worth as a mid-manager while pregnant 'not one to trust since she will leave anyway soon'"

"Childcare opportunities for dual-career couples"

"Despite an advanced technical degree, significantly contributing to the success of the organization internally and externally as well as financially, I receive no recognition, support or opportunities for advancement."

"Implying non-whites can’t speak good English, even when they have a strong command of the language than their native English speaking colleagues."

"Greater awareness re: Disability as part of DEI"

"I am a female technology founder. I am building a technology with bootstraps that my male competitors were given $3M or more to create. Every day I climb Mount Everest."

"I don’t feel safe coming out completely to my co-workers or boss."

"I know I had jobs and promotions denied to me because I am a woman. and I know I was paid less."

"Locker room "humor", use of homophobic slang, ignorance, microagression, outright sexist and homophobic comments."

"Silent discrimination."

"Single women are not to be disregarded or categorized as aggressive or ambitious."