Manufacturing, Engineering, Digital, Construction and Renewables. All this and more could be found at the Women in Manufacturing and Engineering (WIME) event.
Held at the Humber Royal Hotel, Grimsby, 43 locally based companies set out their stalls for over 100 members of the public and 445 students from primary schools all the way up to University.
Despite there being a range of opportunities across manufacturing, engineering, digital , construction and renewables in North East Lincolnshire, figures show how these sectors remain male-dominated with only 9% of the workforce being female.
The Women into Manufacturing and Engineering (WiME) initiative was developed to balance the scales and encourage more women to consider a STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) based career. In the next two years alone, it’s believed an estimated 186,000 new jobs will be needed across these sectors.
The event has welcomed 1000s of budding learners over the years with many impressed by what was on offer. Poppie, Year 6 at Healing Primary, said: “Success depends on if you believe in yourself and, after speaking to the women today, I do now.”
With regular events taking place across the Humber region, attendees had the chance to chat with local organisations and find out what it’s like to be a woman working in these industries.
Amy Gresham, skills and employment lead at North East Lincolnshire Council, who was involved in coordinating the event, is confident that the representation of females in the sector will inspire women and young girls across North East Lincolnshire.
She said: “WiME is a fantastic initiative and we are always happy to host the event in North East Lincolnshire, giving young girls and women the opportunity to meet a wide range of brilliant role models from across the area. Hearing young girls enthused about science, engineering, renewables, construction and, most importantly, their own future, is the reason we love to support WiME.”
The event has helped open the door to many over the years, including Paula Nicholls who works as an HR Practitioner for ABP after coming to the WIME event in Hull seven years ago. Now, she runs a stall at the event aiming to help others follow in her footsteps.
“I thought the WIME event wasn’t going to be for me. I’d spent ages looking for a job after I left my previous role in retail after over 20 years so thought I’d come and see what was on offer.
“I ended up sending in my CV to ABP and I’ve been there seven years now. Moving into this sector has helped me no end and I’ve realised I have transferable skills that I never thought I had.”
Kirsty Clode, Chair of WIME, believes that this event is a crucial stepping stone for helping women realise their potential.
She said: “Our fantastic WiME partner companies brought along lots of amazing activities to engage the pupils and I heard so many positive and meaningful conversations. Some ladies already had the qualifications needed and wanted to speak with local employers about their vacancies, while others were looking at what would be the best education route for them.”
“I know from personal experience that women can be brilliant engineers and scientists. Our aim at the event was to showcase the fabulous opportunities in our region and show the girls, their parents/carers and mature ladies what could be possible for them.”
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