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Welcoming female engineers in industry partnership

Friday 30 June 2017

THE UNIVERSITY of Salford is encouraging girls and women to consider a career in engineering with a unique partnership with industry.

To meet rising demand for engineering skills to deliver Hinkley Point C, HS2, Crossrail 2 and the expansion of London City airport, it’s estimated that the UK needs to double the number of young people entering the sector.  

Yet female engineers make up less than 10% of the workforce, according to the Women’s Engineering Society.The UK’s number one technical recruiter, Morson International, has launched a new campaign to encourage more females into engineering roles by pledging to double its current numbers by the end of the decade.

Morson International has more than 1,800 female contractors working in various roles throughout the globe as works closely with the University of Salford via the Gerry Mason Engineering Excellence Scholarship in memory of Morson Group founder, Gerry Mason. 

15 Scholarships

The programme offers annual scholarships to undergraduates across all engineering disciplines to help those who would have been deterred from studying at university by the tuition fees and associated living costs. So far, the Gerry Mason Engineering Excellence Scholarship has helped 15 young people and is offering a further 15 scholarships for the 2017/18 academic year.

Professor Haifa Takruri-Rizk, a lecturer in electrical engineering at Salford and MBE for services to women’s engineering, said: “Our female graduates do very well in the world of engineering but we are still wasting a lot of talent because of outdated stereotypes. We need more companies like Morson to work with universities and schools to build a diverse and dynamic workforce.”Morson’s recently pumped £1m into the University’s new manufacturing centre – the Salford Maker Space – a facility due to open in the School of Computing, Science and Engineering in 2018.

Dr Maria Stukoff, director of Maker Space at the University of Salford, said: “The time is now to inspire girls and young women to take up the challenge of engineering and have a voice in making the future. We are thrilled that Morson are leading this programme to foster female voices in our community, and in partnership with Salford University. "We must reimagine what an engineer looks like to enable a wider pool of talent to step confidently into this industry. 

We will do this by offering real hands-on opportunities to explore and gain skillsets across all aspect of Engineering, and to join us to Make in Salford.”The Morson Group is also a partner of the Girls’ Network, which inspires and empowers young women from disadvantaged communities by connecting them with a mentor and a network of leading female role models. 

Changing perceptions

As part of the alliance, the Morson Group and Girls’ Network is launching a Salford group in June 2017 to help local girls. Changing perceptions  Ged Mason, CEO of the Morson Group, said: “Our aim is to inspire the next generation of engineers and also showcase the skills required to work in engineering to help females in other sectors realise what transferable skills they have and their career prospects in this industry.

“We believe our campaign is changing the perceptions amongst parents, teachers and young people who believe engineering is a male profession.”

For more information about the Gerry Mason Engineering Excellence Scholarship with the University of Salford, visit: http://www.salford.ac.uk/computing-science-engineering/courses/undergraduate-courses/gerrymasonscholarship