Women have always been under-represented in the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics) workforce, and a 2019 report by UNESCO illustrated the true extent of this. It showed that in no part of the world, except for a few countries, do women outnumber men in the Research & Development workforce. Globally, less than 30% of those working in research fields were women. There can be no doubt that women are starting to represent a higher proportion of the science and engineering workforce. However, any increases follow on from very low starting points. According to the US Census, for example, women working in engineering occupations increased from 3% in 1970, to 15% in 2019 [1] . That same year , there were more than 6.3 million female scientists and engineers working in the EU, accounting for 41% of total employment in science and engineering [2] . In Asia specifically, there were found to be key differences across the continent. A handful of countries buck the glo