Programme by Session

UKSEDS (UK Students for the Exploration and Development of Space) is the UK’s national student space society, connecting students and young professionals to opportunities, advice, and experience in the space sector.

The UK Space Agency’s aim is for the UK to make up 10% of the global sector by 2030. To meet this goal, a larger and more diverse workforce is needed. It is widely acknowledged that diverse workforces in industry lead to greater innovation and productivity.

We analysed the demographic data we gathered at the National Student Space Conference 2019. We compared this data to the UK census, as well as to the space workforce in the UK (e.g. the RAS demographics survey of 2016 and Engineering UK’s 2018 report), finding that delegates were significantly more diverse than the sector as a whole. 22.6% of NSSC delegates declared their sexuality as homosexual/gay, bisexual or other, compared to 18% of the permanent workforce, and 18.3% of NSSC delegates identified as Black, Asian, Mixed or Other, compared to 6% of permanent workforce respondents to the RAS survey.

We aim to investigate why NSSC attracted a more diverse cohort than the sector at large, and are continually and reflexively working on making all our activities as inclusive as possible. Subsequently, we aim to improve opportunities and remove barriers for underrepresented groups in the next generation of the space sector, whilst setting an example of best diversity and inclusion practice for the sector.