Oil major Shell has sought to transform the perception of the oil and gas industry after receiving no applications from female students for their engineering programme six years ago.
The company and Aberdeen’s North East College sought to understand why the only submissions had been from male applicants.
Shell said three key reasons were found – poor perception of the industry, lack of female role models and poor experience of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) subjects.
Out of the research by Shell and North East College came the Girls in Engineering programme.
The course helps students to rethink these preconceptions and show them the huge range of different careers available both offshore and onshore all over the world.
Since it launched in 2010 the number of pupils involved in the Shell-sponsored programme has expanded to reach over 100 young women each year, with further expansion plans in progress.
Energy Voice spoke to three students at Offshore Europe, all at different stages of the programme, who had the opportunity to see where STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) could take them.
Monique Uri, 15, is set to embark on course while Taylor Erridge, 15, is now eyeing a career in carbon capture after completing it.
Abbey Thomson, 18, completed the course a few years ago and is now on Shell’s engineering scheme.
Her budding career is going from milestone to the next as she learns more about the sector.
She said her previous knowledge of the industry had been working on platforms in the North Sea, and that it was a male-dominated industry.
Watch the video below to find out more.
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