Women currently make up less than 6% of Modern Apprentices in Engineering across Scotland. West College Scotland are working in partnership with Diodes Incorporated & Developing the Young Workforce West to change that. The local partners are hosting an online meet-up event where three young women will provide an insight into Modern Apprenticeship opportunities for women in Inverclyde.
Leading the way for women in Engineering are three local, talented employees of global manufacturer and supplier of semiconductor products, Diodes Incorporated; all of the women come from Greenock and work at the company’s Inverclyde site. Aimee Cooke, 20, Apprentice Equipment Maintenance Technician; Caitlin Kirk, 23, Equipment Maintenance Technician; and Megan Ruddy, 22, Graduate Process Engineer will be sharing their experiences and showing other Inverclyde women how they can kick start a career in the Engineering.
Led by Equate Scotland, which promotes the advancement of women into Engineering, Science and Technology, the event will take place via Zoom on Tuesday 2nd March and will coincide with the National Scottish Apprenticeship week.
Attendees of the event will hear about the benefits of a Modern Apprenticeship, the training offered by West College Scotland and the career journeys of the three local women. Megan said,
“I’m looking forward to getting to chat to others about their future and answer any questions regarding women in STEM. Increasing the number of females in STEM is really important as we want to show that anyone can be involved in what they are interested in. Even if you aren’t sure about what you would like to study or have a career in, it’s always worth finding out what may be out there for you.”
Aimee echoed this saying, “It’s important that women are encouraged into ‘STEM’ career paths. These are usually male dominant workforces as young women aren’t always steered in this direction, unless they have found inspiration elsewhere. With more women in engineering, it will showcase the fact that we all have equal opportunities when it comes to our careers, no matter the gender.”
Caitlin who has been a STEM ambassador for around 2 years said,
“I love taking part in these types of events, especially when I can get woman involved. When I first started my apprenticeship, I was the first female apprentice in 20 years! I wanted to encourage more women into this type of work."
She continued, "I’m really looking forward to this particular event as we haven’t had the chance to promote women in engineering for a while due to COVID-19.”
Head of Engineering at West College Scotland, Alistair Rodgers said, “Addressing gender imbalance across a number of occupational areas is part of the strategic vision of West College Scotland, and attracting more young women into STEM subjects forms a key objective. The College are therefore delighted to be able to support this initiative, working with Diodes Incorporated and Equate Scotland to promote opportunities in Engineering through the experiences of Aimee, Caitlin and Megan.”
Aileen O’Hagan, Industry Recruitment Coordinator at Equate Scotland, comments:
“Events like this are important to break down existing gender stereotypes and demonstrate the variety of routes into Engineering. Equate Scotland want to address the gender imbalance in Scotland’s Engineering industry and see more women working, studying, and leading in this area. We are delighted Aimee, Caitlin and Megan can support and share their stories.”
To sign up for the event visit: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/equate-x-diodes-supporting-women-into-careers-in-engineering-tickets-139912121923