On Friday 12th October 2018, a number of our female students had the exciting opportunity to attend the Women into Manufacturing or Engineering (WiME) careers event, at Grimbsy Town Hall. WiME is an initiative by Green Port Hull, Siemens Gamesa, Airco and Jobcentre Plus to encourage, inspire and help women to discover the opportunities available in manufacturing and engineering.
Green Port Hull states that “in the Humber region, manufacturing contributes 17% of our employment compared with 8.7% for England – and this number is set to grow thanks to the investment in renewable energy. However, despite the high demand for people with STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) qualifications, women are under-represented in these roles.”
So why should women choose careers within these industries? We asked four of our female students to discuss the stereotypes usually associated with these job roles, and what they hope to achieve in the future upon completing their studies.
- What made you choose Engineering UTC Northern Lincolnshire?
Maddison – “I wanted to be an engineer and I knew the UTC would give me the best education so that I could get a good job.”
Eleanor – “I chose the UTC because I could get better qualifications then my old school.”
Zoe – “I chose the UTC as I enjoyed engineering beforehand and wanted to make a career out of it.”
Guilia – “I chose the UTC as I enjoyed the fact that it focused on engineering as a whole.”
- What are your future career goals?
Maddison – “I want to go into the armed forces as an engineer.”
Eleanor – “I want to be a mechanical engineer, travel the world and earn money.”
Zoe – “I want to be a mechanical engineer.”
Guilia – “My dream is to be an aerospace engineer.”
- What are your thoughts on women being under-represented in the industry?
Maddison – “The world needs to know that women can be engineers and can do the exact same things as men.”
Eleanor – “Because we are girls we don’t get picked to do engineering because of our genders.”
Zoe – “I think that we shouldn’t be under-represented just because we are a different gender and be made out that we are not able to do engineering types of activities.”
Guilia – “I don’t think that people should underestimate women. We can do a job just as good as a man can do.”
- How would you like to see women overcome this stereotype in the future?
Maddison – “I would like to see more women coming into schools and showing girls that we can do this, and we can do what men can do!”
Eleanor – “Women should get paid the same as men and should get the same career advice and the same opportunities.”
Zoe – “Girls should have the same opportunities as boys and be offered the same career advice too.”
To find out more about the opportunities available at the Engineering UTC Northern Lincolnshire, you can download our 2018/19 prospectus here. Or if you would like to find out more about the opportunities available then please click here.
We loved having your students at the WiME events. I’m glad they found it helpful. I like the comments they made after their visit. #WomenLikeMe