Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Chi Onwurah and Justine Greening

Thursday 6th July 2017 Commons Chamber

[Justine Greening]

Absolutely. This is not just the right thing to do; it is the smart thing to do. I have a role on the UN High-Level Panel on Women’s Economic Empowerment, whose work showed that gender equality and women’s economic empowerment is one of the most powerful global levers for growth that we can pull. Indeed, McKinsey did work that suggested that if we bridged the gender gap here in the UK, it could add £150 billion to our GDP by 2025.

[Chi Onwurah (Newcastle upon Tyne Central) (Lab)]

rose—

[Chi Onwurah]

International women in engineering day was 22 June. The Minister knows how important career choices are for women and the gender gap. What is she doing about that?

[Justine Greening]

One of the main actions we can take is to make sure that girls study maths and science at A-level. We know that that is a powerful way to keep those career options open to them.