Media centre

Wednesday 15 Mar 2017

Female Network Rail engineers become STEM role models

Region & Route:

Wales & Western: Wales & Borders

| Wales & Western

• The Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) Celebration of Talented Women in Wales conference took place at the Senedd in Cardiff Bay on Monday 13 March.

• Two female Network Rail assistant asset engineers joined forces with leaders from business, academia and the Welsh Government to encourage girls to think about a career in rail engineering.

Olivia Devan and Hannah Kennedy took part in ‘People Like Me’ workshops, along with STEM females from Wales based companies and institutions such as Welsh Water, GE Aviation and Cardiff and Swansea Universities, in which they met female pupils from 9 schools who have interests in STEM subjects.

The ‘People Like Me’ sessions, which have also been delivered by Network Rail graduates in schools around the UK as part of International Women’s Day 2017, incorporate a set of activities that enable students to understand their personal strengths and to relate them to the very broad range of engineering roles.

The sessions challenge outdated stereotypes of roles on the railway and poor visibility of female role models. Showing how different personalities contribute in different roles, students are able to identify a role that genuinely appeals to them.

The conference included inspirational talks from women in STEM roles, such a Helen Wollaston, chief executive of WISE, Julie James AM, Welsh Minister for Skills and Science, Trudy Norris-Grey, Chair of WISE and MD, Worldwide Business Development, Microsoft and WISE Royal Patron, HRH The Princess Royal.

The conference comes after Network Rail announced its '20 by 20' target to increase take-up of female employees and tackle the engineer shortfall amongst women. The organisation has set itself a new target to increase its take-up of female employees across the business to 20 percent by 2020.

As one of Britain’s biggest employers, Network Rail recognises it has a role to play in inspiring future generations about careers in the engineering sector. The pipeline of female talent entering the sector is low which WISE (Women in Science and Engineering) say is because 50,000 girls are turning away from an education in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) every year.

Helen Samuels, Network Rail’s engineering director, took part in a panel chaired by Professor Julie Williams CBE, chief scientific advisor for Wales. Helen’s role is to lead the 2,000 engineers working in the projects team to deliver a five year, £25 billion investment in new infrastructure.

Helen said: “Addressing the gender balance issue in engineering has to be part of the solution to the skills crisis we are facing as an industry.

“We need to capture the imagination of young girls (and boys!) so that they aspire to be the next generation of engineers – solving society’s greatest challenges by doing the coolest job in the world!

“Having more diverse teams will also make us better at finding the solutions to our increasingly complex problems; having a mixture of skills sets in these problem-solving situations is key.”

Olivia Devan, assistant asset engineer at Network Rail said, “I absolutely loved being involved in this event. The speakers were really inspirational and HRH Princess Anne was lovely. It was also great to meet some young girls with a passion for Science and Engineering!”

Hannah Kennedy, assistant asset engineer at Network Rail, added, “It’s key that anyone from any background with an interest in STEM subjects is empowered to follow that interest, and that cultural preconceptions don’t lead to wasted talent.

“Events like this provide an invaluable opportunity to challenge the limiting beliefs that girls often hold in relation to pursuing STEM careers. It was fantastic to be a part of helping young people to discover what STEM jobs actually look like and to explore their own talents, interests and opportunities.”

Network Rail will also be working with our partners at Arriva Trains Wales on a joint stall at the Women Connect First International Women’s Day Celebration on Wednesday 15th March, 2017.

 

Notes to editors:

To find out more information about careers at Network Rail, or to apply for one of our apprenticeships, please visit https://www.networkrail.co.uk/careers/

Currently, 16% of Network Rail’s 37,000 strong workforce is female. We aim to increase this to 20 percent by 2020.

WISE Founded in 1984, WISE is a Leeds based non-profit community interest company which provides expert support to employers, educators and training providers seeking to improve gender balance in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) in the UK.

The Women Connect First International Women’s Day Celebration takes place at City Hall, Cardiff from 11:00 to 15:00 on Wednesday 15th March 2017.