Thames Valley: ATG Training launches Girls Allowed engineering apprenticeship scheme

As National Apprenticeship Week kicks off today, a Thames Valley training provider is hoping to change the way young women view careers in engineering through apprenticeships in the region.

The general perception of the engineering industry is that it is not one which attracts equal numbers of male and female professionals. Gender stereotyping has us easily assuming that numbers of female engineers are relatively small in the UK. However, when the trade body Engineering UK conducted some concrete research, many were shocked to find that just 8.7% of professional engineers in the UK are women – the lowest figure in Europe, despite the UK’s long-term reputation for engineering excellence.

For this reason, Aylesbury-based training centre ATG Training has taken up the challenge of recruiting more girls into the engineering industry, by promoting engineering apprenticeships for girls aged 16 to 24 in the Thames Valley through Girls Allowed – a dedicated campaign that has seen huge success in other areas.

As a new raft of girls prepare to leave school or college, ATG Training’s Stephen Smyth believes that a paid engineering apprenticeship is a worthwhile alternative to university, and one that can be equally rewarding for girls.

“Society tends to colour the way girls think,” explained Smyth. “If you imagine an engineer, it’s probably someone covered in grease holding a spanner. In reality, an engineer can be structural, medical or in fact any kind. The companies we work with are innovative and exciting, lots of engineering work is computer-and-design based and offers really exciting opportunities.

“We have engineering apprentices in companies like EIS-Axon, which makes electronic components for companies all over the world; Norston DAGE, which researches and manufactures world-leading industrial x-ray equipment; and Martin Baker, the world’s leading designer and manufacturer of aircraft ejection seats.

“Our most recent success story is Fay Chicken, who started an engineering apprenticeship with ATG Training, has gone on to study through Oxford University and will shortly be travelling to Geneva to take up an engineering role with CERN – where Sir Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web in 1989. Engineering is a fantastic career choice and we want to see more girls taking up the opportunities available in the Thames Valley area.”

As the end of the school year approaches, the Thames Valley Girls Allowed campaign is reaching out to girls and women aged 16 to 24 who may be doing GCSEs, A Levels, or even those who are currently employed. As a full-time apprentice, the initial practical training with ATG takes place over 12 weeks, followed by a one to three-year apprenticeship with an employer taking in professional qualifications such as NVQ, BTEC and OND.

“Everything we touch from the roads we drive on to the cutlery we eat with has had something to do with design and engineering and it’s an incredibly exciting and challenging career. We are working with some amazing companies, based right here in the Thames Valley who are looking for bright apprentices to start this year,” concluded Smyth.