Bringing Aycliffe Business Park Together | 23
Kate Chapman - SWDT’s
Business Development Manager
SWDT TO ENGINEER A FUTURE FOR GIRLS
Schoolgirls in Newton Aycliffe will have the opportunity to gain an insight into a career in
manufacturing and engineering with the help of a leading training provider workshop.
South West Durham Training (SWDT) will
take to County Durham and Darlington to
deliver the Girls into Engineering workshops
for schoolgirls aged 13 to 16 to inspire a
career in the industry and tackle gender
stereotypes.
The training provider, which has been
equipping the region with the skills needed
to lead the way in the manufacturing and
engineering sector for more than 45 years,
is also hoping to encourage schools to add
the subjects to their curriculum after recent
figures showed that just 6% of the UK
engineering workforce is female.
A one-day workshop in June offered
an overview of the manufacturing and
engineering industry, address gender
stereotypes and will include Snacktory
Factory, an interactive activity which
has an element of creativity and design,
which according to studies evokes better
engagement in girls.
In light of National Women in Engineering
Day, Kate Chapman, business development
manager at SWDT is leading the workshop
programme and hopes that schools will sign
up to the workshops before September.
She said: “We’re currently working on
the development of Girls into Engineering
workshops, intended for delivery into
secondary schools from September 2014.
It’s a focused campaign initiated to respond
to this area of improvement with a targeted
approach and measureable outcome.
“I came through the apprenticeship route
with SWDT myself and have seen firsthand how great a career in engineering and
manufacturing can be.
“I’m delighted to play a part in introducing
the next generation to the industry and hope
to see schools across the board sign up to
take part in the workshops.
”
The drive behind the call for women in
engineering comes as Government announce
a national shortage of engineers required to
drive forward the economic recovery and
future growth within the sectors.
Miss Chapman added: “We have a noticeable
disproportion in male-to-female learners’ at
SWDT, which currently stands at a 14:1 ratio.
“We have recognised this as an area for
improvement, not only to tackle the gender
bias issues in industry, but as an area for
recruitment to address the engineering skills
shortage as a whole.
“With this repeated fact comes the extreme
under-representation of women in industry
and it is within our own values as a training
provider to ensure that we strive for equality
of opportunity. The Government is looking at
ways of trying to remedy the problem and at
SWDT we’re embracing that.
”
The role of female apprentices was also
be addressed at a business conference
hosted by SWDT in July, when the training
provider called for employers across the
region to pledge an apprentice in order to
work towards employing more of the UK
workforce through apprenticeship by April
2015.
For more information on the Girls in
Engineering