Laura Norton – WISE Managing Director and IET Head of EDI

Laura Norton

Laura is the Managing Director for WISE and the Head of Equality Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) for the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET).

Laura is excited to support WISE and its members in the vital mission to propel more women into STEM roles.

In her role at the IET, Laura focuses on improving EDI in several areas: for colleagues working at the IET, in the work that the IET delivers, for volunteers and members, and for the wider Engineering and Technology sector.

Laura has led programmes of work on a number of EDI topics, including: women’s retention and progression, bullying and harassment intervention, diversity data monitoring and reporting, experiences of LGBT+ scientists, race and ethnicity, diversity in scientific publishing, and neurodiversity in engineering and technology. 

Prior to her time at WISE and the IET, Laura has led inclusion and diversity programmes at the Royal Society of Chemistry, The Babraham Institute, led Athena SWAN projects, and an EC-funded gender equality project, LIBRA.

Laura is a scientist by background, with post-doctoral experience at the Paterson Institute of Cancer Research and the Babraham Institute in cellular biology and biochemistry. She completed her PhD at the Babraham Institute, University of Cambridge.