Over 100 female year 11 students from Turves Green Girls School in Birmingham attended the first ever Next Gen Makers Engineering Careers Webinar for High Schools on Tuesday 14th September 2020.
The event, delivered by Next Gen Makers via Zoom specifically for the school, was extremely well received.
Paul Keylock, Careers Leader at Turves Green Girls School commented: “I thought it was really good! Loads of information, really well put together. We did a before and after activity; few knew what Engineering was before, most did after. A number of them said they were going to explore Engineering further. The whole of year 11 (who were present today) attended, I would say 100 pupils. Their feedback was very positive. Thank you very much for the opportunity, it was really informative”.
The 45-minute interactive webinar is part of a series of these events delivered by Next Gen Makers which is set to reach thousands of year 11 students at more than 30 High Schools by May 2021.
The sessions seek to inform and inspire, demystifying what Engineering is and what Engineers careers could look like, provide local labour market information and promote opportunities for further study or apprenticeships in the sector post year 11, drawing upon information from the Next Gen Makers Engineering Careers Prospectus.
Knowing that this was going to be delivered within a Girls High School, Next Gen Makers adapted the content slightly, packing the session full of inspiring video case studies of existing Female Engineering Apprentices with glowing recommendations of working in the sector.
Next Gen Makers Managing Director Adam Tipper adds: “According to Women in Engineering Society figures, just 12.37% of all engineers are women in the UK, whilst 25.4% of girls aged 16-18 would consider a career in engineering compared to 51.9% of boys.
You can’t be what you can’t see and the feedback from this session proves that if we can reach and inform this targeted age group with a consistent, positive message of Engineering and social proof of young people like them achieving in the sector, we can increase the number those that are inspired to consider a career in the sector”.
The webinar also acted as a signposting session, promoting Apprenticeships and further education at Next Gen Makers partner Training Provider & Colleges in the Birmingham region such as Make UK, BMet College and Sandwell College.
“As well as increasing awareness of how great a career in Engineering can be, it is vital that Year 11 students understand what their options look like to take their next steps into Engineering post school. It is great to be able to promote local Colleges and Training Providers that are featured within our Engineering Careers Prospectus and sign post towards our dedicated online resource www.nextgenmakers.co.uk/prospectus at the end of the webinars” concludes Adam.