Why these girls are all tooled up (From Echo)

Prospects College’s drive to recruit women onto courses

3:00pm Thursday 2nd February 2012 in Basildon

HERE come the girls... and they are wielding hammers, saws and an impressive attitude to match.

Not many 21-year-old women could re-wire a house and few 18-year-old girls would be able to fix your car, but a group of sassy young Basildon students are breaking the mould when it comes to pre-conceived ideas about “Essex girls”.

For centuries, women have proved they make excellent engineers, but despite some of the most important engineering discoveries being made by the fairer sex, it still remains a male-dominated industry.

Now, Prospects College in Basildon is hoping to bust the stereotype and get more women on to engineering courses.

The award-winning college, in Crompton Close, which specialises in offering vocational apprenticeships has a roll of 800 students, but only 30 are girls – only five per cent of the student body.

College chiefs are on a drive to increase this to 30 per cent by 2014.

Prospects, together with Chelmsford College and Colchester Institute, has teamed up with Essex County Council to launch the “Girls Allowed” scheme, aimed at getting more women into the industry.

Fourteen to 18 year olds interested in an alternative career can log onto www.girls-allowed.co.uk to find out about the benefits and future career paths an engineering apprenticeship could lead to.

It also contains case studies from girls who have completed their courses at one of the colleges, and moved onto a work placement within the sector.

Graham Lewis, business development director at Prospects College, said: “Bringing young women into engineering over the next three years doesn’t sound that difficult on paper, however, engineering is still perceived as a male-dominated environment.

“It’s a perception we are working hard to dispel. I would ask parents and young women to consider the opportunities available in engineering and manufacturing.

“The girls we do have here are brilliant. They work very hard.

“We have some employers who swear by female engineers, saying they often do a more thorough job than men – and they also tend to have a lot more patience.”

Part of the Girls Allowed scheme sees Prospects working with secondary schools across Basildon, spreading the message technical courses can be just as appealing for young women.

Claire Helim, head of science at James Hornsby High School in Laindon, said: “We have been ensuring girls at James Hornsby are being motivated and made aware of the opportunities for them.

“We recently took a group of girls on a tour of Petroplus and Selex Galileo, and have an apprentice science technician working within the school.”

l For more information visit www.girls-allowed.co.uk or www.

facebook.com/engineeringfor thefuture