National Space Strategy

Part of 1. Questions to the Minister for Economy – in the Senedd at 2:11 pm on 15 June 2022.

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Photo of Vaughan Gething Vaughan Gething Labour 2:11, 15 June 2022

Yes, absolutely. I recall the comments made by the social mobility tsar, and I have to say that a number of the comments she has made don't appear to be particularly helpful, from my perspective, in generating genuine social mobility and inclusion.

The Our Space Our Future consortium is a really good example of top-flight collaboration that has been funded, for example, through the EU Horizon 2020 programme, which fosters STEM careers in the space sector, and it's part of our engagement. And I look at the recent Science in the Senedd event, hosted by the Deputy Presiding Officer. I was really positive about the education in it, encouraging STEM activity, and how they had deliberately sought to make sure that they were available to boys and girls and to people from different backgrounds as well. That's a really good example, and it shows that talent isn't concentrated in one social sector.

I can absolutely say that talent isn't the exclusive preserve of men and not women. In my own working life, I can honestly say that the best teams I've been involved in have been teams of relatively even numbers of men and women, and the best managers I've had in the workplace—with apologies to Mick Antoniw, who was my manager at some point—the best managers and leaders I had in my workplace were women as well. So, it's part of my personal experience, and I want to see more talented men and women come into this sector. There are good jobs to be had, more jobs to be had within the sector, better jobs, and I'm absolutely confident we'll see many successful Welsh women in the sector in the future.