A group of nine girls from Mintlaw Academy in Aberdeenshire have been finding out how women are playing an increasingly key role in offshore engineering.
They visited the Sparrows Group base at Bridge of Don, Aberdeen, and met female engineers working for the company, which specialises in offshore lifting, crane and fluid power engineering.
In what is traditionally a male-dominated industry, the girls saw how women were involved in designing hydraulic and mechanical engineering systems and managing maintenance regimes which help to keep the huge cranes on North Sea installations operating safely and reliably.
“It was a real eye-opener”, said third-year pupil Iona Robertson.
Serena Clarke, also in third year, added: “I learned a lot about career opportunities for women in the oil industry.”
The girls, who have been taking part in the Girls into Energy programme, toured workshops where machinery is stripped down, repaired and rebuilt.
They also heard presentations from Bevin Gunn-Florence – the first woman engineer to join Sparrows in 1996 – and Katy Crawford, one of the firm’s newest recruits.
Ms Crawford said: “The Girls into Energy Course is excellent and I hope to see it expanded into other schools.
“It definitely would have sparked my interest in engineering at a younger age.
“It is great to see that the girls are interested in pursuing a career as an engineer.”
She added: “Hopefully, with a combination of events like this and the Girls into Energy programme, more girls will decide to follow in their footsteps into engineering.”