How a talent development and community impact programme in the UK is encouraging young students to choose careers in science, technology engineering and maths

At Janssen, we want to create a workforce that is healthy, inspired and – crucially– reflective of the diverse people we serve. Because we believe that by creating a mix of people in our workforce that reflects the world around us, we’ll be better equipped to achieve our goal of creating a future where disease is a thing of the past.

Empowering our employees is cornerstone of our Environmental, Social and Justice policy, something whose progress we measure at the end of each year in our Health for Humanity report – we’ve just released 2021’s report which looks at the 21 Health for Humanity goals that we're aiming to hit by 2025.

This year, we saw a really exciting and innovative programme in the UK which aims to encourage a more diverse healthcare workforce by providing young people with opportunities to pursue a career in STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths). The Johnson & Johnson STEM Scholars Programme was created to support Black students studying STEM in further education. It's a five-year program championed by the Johnson & Johnson Innovation Centre in London which supports 25 students for two years, and then a cohort of up to 10 students for a further three years during their time at university.

The idea is for the students to gain understanding of the healthcare industry and STEM careers, that will enable them to gain experience through work experience and paid internships at Johnson & Johnson UK locations, while being supported by a Johnson & Johnson mentor.

And it works for us too. Programmes like this are key to making sure our company is representative of the region we sit in. As Rhoda Steel, UK CSR Lead, Johnson & Johnson, says: “At Johnson & Johnson UK, a key priority is to invest in the next generation of healthcare talent and to ensure that young people everywhere have the opportunity to fulfill their dreams, regardless of their ethnicity, background or circumstances. This programme will help build a more diverse talent pool for Johnson & Johnson and create a stronger and more resilient healthcare workforce."