Engineering apprentice Elizabeth Halliwell of MBDA in Bolton helped to challenge the myth that only boys work in manufacturing. She was among speakers from North West companies who visited a Manchester school with specialist science status to talk about the great jobs open to girls in industry.

Women from graduates to directors working in science, manufacturing and engineering showed pupils at the school how modern industry offers girls a variety of skilled careers, from the shop floor to the boardroom and they told their audience of 300 year 7 (11-12 year old) girls that they too can make their way in sectors traditionally dominated by males.

The event was designed to raise the aspirations of the girls by introducing them to positive female role models from a variety of industrial careers. It was run by The Manufacturing Institute, a charity dedicated to promoting manufacturing excellence, and Education Business Solutions.

It forms part of the Make It in Manufacturing Campaign (www.makeit.org.uk) which aims to promote manufacturing as an exciting and rewarding career destination. The campaign embraces a range of high-profile education and awareness raising activities, all designed to introduce young people to the world of modern manufacturing and dispel negative images about dead-end and low-paid jobs.

Nicola Eagleton, Make It campaign manager for The Manufacturing Institute, said: “Our speakers set out to debunk the myth that ‘proper’ jobs for girls are in areas such as media, law, teaching and hairdressing, while only boys go into industry.  They challenged such stereotyping, to show the fantastic opportunities available to women in modern industry - not just on the technical side, but in business support areas such as marketing, sales and design.”

Image: Elizabeth Halliwell, an engineering apprentice with MBDA, shows school girls that industry is for girls as well as boys.

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