The Women in OR & Analytics Network is a network for female OR practitioners and academics.

The gender imbalance in OR and STEM in general still presents many challenges both for academics and practitioners.

Whilst there is a lot of literature about the low proportions of women in STEM careers, no work had specifically been undertaken on the UK OR profession until 2018 when The OR Society sponsored three MSc research projects on the theme of women in OR.

Key findings from the three projects concluded that The OR Society should establish a network for women at work in OR and analytics to build strong, encouraging connections.

We need you

We need your voice, your knowledge and your experience in this group. Help us to build a strong, self-supporting network and to set better conditions for the next cohort of young women launching into their careers in OR and analytics.

Network Committee

Come to our next event

Past meetings

Land Lecture: Women, unions and the workplace: Sue Ferns (Prospect Union) in conversation with Theresa Chambers (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero).

Online, 10th October, 4pm-6pm

register here

Over the last year or so, trade unions have shot to prominence in the UK as industrial unrest and strike action reach levels not seen for decades. This is a particularly significant time therefore to be welcoming Sue Ferns as our speaker in the 2023 Land Lecture.

Sue Ferns filled the hugely influential role of President of the TUC (Trades Union Congress) in 2021/22. She has for many years held a leading role in Prospect - a union with 150,000 members including engineers, scientists, managers, civil servants and a large number of OR/analytics professionals - as well as chairing the TUC's Women's Committee, and the Trade Union Sustainable Development Advisory Committee. She was the first person in her family to go to university, has a degree in Industrial Relations from Salford University, and started her working life in the TUC's economics department.

For this event, Sue will be in conversation with Theresa Chambers. Since completing her OR MSc at Lancaster in 1995, Theresa has worked in senior OR roles at the Department of Work and Pensions, Home Office and Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. She is currently Joint Head of Energy Infrastructure and Markets Analysis at the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero. She is a long-standing trades unionist, and WORAN member.

Sue and Theresa will be talking about a variety of issues including where things stand for women in the scientific/technical workplace, the role of unions in the movement towards gender equality and equity, and the role of women in unions, against the background of her own career in a historically male-dominated environment. There will be plenty of opportunity for Q&A from the audience, and breakouts to discuss some of the issues raised. As usual for this event, we will be using Zoom meetings so that all members of the audience can (if they wish) see and chat with each other, in order to maximise interactivity.

Approximate timetable (subject to change)
4.00-4.10 Introduction
4.10-5.00 Conversation, with Q&A
5.00-5.20 Breakouts to discuss some of the issues raised in                    the conversation
5.20-6.00 Return to plenary and feedback

Close by 6.00

Career breaks and breaking careers

16 November 2023, 13.30 - 14.30

Join us for a joint online event between the Early Career Researchers (ECR) Network and the Women in OR & Analytics Network in November. We will hear the perspectives and experiences of four speakers from academia and industry on their career breaks, including maternity leave. The speakers will cover topics including (i) how to decide to take a career break, (ii) how to mitigate the impact of a career break, and (iii) what mechanisms were available to support them during this time. This will be followed by a panel discussion where you will have the opportunity to ask questions, explore issues and share your own experiences.

End-of-year celebration, joint with WISDOM and WORMS (our EURO and US sister organisations)

15 December 2023, 15.00 - 16.00

Save the Date!

Events Subcommittee

PR & Media Subcommittee

Mentoring Subcommittee

A BIG THANK YOU TO ALL OUR WORAN SPONSORS: