Inspiring women to choose a manufacturing or engineering career
Women into Manufacturing and Engineering (WiME) is an initiative by Green Port Hull, Siemens Gamesa, Airco and Jobcentre Plus to encourage women to choose a career in these industries.
With great pay, a high number of vacancies and attractive prospects, careers in manufacturing and engineering present a wide variety of interesting and exciting roles, which play an important part in our economy.
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.
This is why Green Port Hull has launched WiME, to encourage, inspire and help women in Hull and the East Riding discover the opportunities available in manufacturing and engineering. The initiative has the support of local companies, including Siemens Gamesa, the Swift Group and Airco Refrigeration & Air Conditioning Limited.
More information about WiME is available from the Green Port Hub, situated in Hull’s Central Library.
Why should you choose a career in manufacturing and engineering? Here are some industry facts and figures.
You can also read about two of Siemens' female Industrial Engineer trainees, Chloe and Laura
“We’re really keen to encourage girls and women to consider careers in manufacturing and engineering. We want to change preconceptions some women may have about manufacturing and engineering jobs and open their eyes to the wide range of fantastic careers that are available. We have hired women for a wide variety of manufacturing and engineering positions in our new factory and associated operations in Hull, but the level of female applications has not been as high as we would ideally have hoped for.
“We suspect there is a perception that some of the jobs we are creating are not appropriate for women, but that is simply not the case. This initiative will enable girls who are considering their options after school and women of working age to find out about these career options and the exciting opportunities and prospects they offer to female candidates.”
Carolyn Woolway, Head of Human Resources for the Siemens Gamesa Hull project