Event Review: STEM is for girls too!
The NAA was proud to work with Crosby Soroptimist Group in delivering a STEM workshop for year 9 girls from local schools…
“You can reach the top like us” was the message from leading women scientists and engineers to local school girls.
Inspirational young women working in science, technology, engineering and maths came to Crosby to inspire local girl students that they too could reach the top in scientific, technological, maths and engineering careers. The speakers included leading engineers, medical scientists, a high-flying car industry apprentice and environmental experts.
Almost 100 girl students from seven local schools in Crosby and Formby attended the STEM conference. The aim was to open the students’ eyes to the exciting job opportunities awaiting them in career paths which girl students do not always consider as a career.
Speakers from some of the region’s biggest employers shared their stories on how they got into successful careers. They included biomedical scientists from the Royal Liverpool University Hospital and Alder Hey plus civil engineers and environmental consultants. The students were able to join in interactive workshops with the experts, learning more about their field. Some got the chance to ‘fire rockets’.
One of the speakers was Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) higher apprentice Danielle Flynn who works at the company’s Halewood operation. She is studying Applied Engineering part-time at the University of Warwick alongside working in the Body Shop Standards and Controls department.
“As the only female apprentice in my year, I feel passionate about encouraging more women into engineering” said Danielle. “My role is to help maintain one standard throughout the plants and look for new technologies to introduce. My team also looks into robot programming and fault finding when issues occur.”
Danielle has been a STEM ambassador for three years and is holder of two Apprentice of the Year awards.
JLR also provided two interactive workshops for the girls to experience engineering first-hand.
At the end of the conference, many students said their minds had been opened to careers they had not thought of before and that some would now consider careers in STEM areas.
Science teacher Rachel Matthews from St Michael’s school said the event had been invaluable in helping to make students aware of the wide range of careers which might be available to girls which some might not have considered before. “Having a specific event designed to focus on these careers is very helpful.”
Catherine Howard, Careers Teacher at St Mary’s, said: “This has been really beneficial to our girls. They have been able to meet really positive role models to give them an insight into just what they can achieve in science and technology fields if that is where their interests lie.”
