Some 54 pupils, from schools in Sheffield, Rotherham and Barnsley, were invited to the AMRC, part of the High Value Manufacturing Catapult, in the latest event of a programme which aims to inspire young girls to pursue a career in STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) subjects.
Attracting more women into engineering is one of the most serious challenges facing the industry. A large part of AMRCtribe, which launched in June 2019, is to create a supportive network for teenagers to talk openly about their interest in STEM subjects and STEM-related careers. An exclusive social media group (#AMRCtribe) provides a safe environment for young women to talk in confidence to like-minded peers who may attend different schools.
“We want to connect young girls from the Sheffield City Region so they do not feel isolated,” says Ami Swales, the AMRC’s STEM and outreach co-ordinator. “Often they can be the only one in their friendship group that is interested in engineering, but with #AMRCtribe they can meet other people who have similar interests and it might empower them to pursue that career.
“We invited five schools to this event and each had tours of the AMRC Training Centre, the Design and Prototyping Centre, Factory of the Future, Nuclear AMRC and our Manufacturing Transporter,” she adds.
Following the tours, the schoolgirls were then set an engineering group activity – working in mixed teams – to build a model Ferris wheel using little more than paper, masking tape, string and bolts.
Asha Spruce, 16, from UTC Sheffield, says: “I think AMRCtribe is a good initiative because women feel intimated going into such a male-dominated industry. Having the tribe means there is support, and it gives us women a chance to meet others doing the same thing.
“Seeing the digital operating theatre in the Design and Prototyping Centre was impressive; I’ve never seen anything like that before and it was the best part of the tour,” she continues. “I knew I wanted to be an engineer before coming to the AMRC, but until I saw the digital operating theatre, I didn’t know medical engineering was an option.”
Speakers at the event, held at the AMRC’s Knowledge Transfer Centre, included second-year apprentice machinist at Boeing Sheffield, Rosie Davies.
Says Spruce: “Hearing from people like Rosie and seeing other female engineers working on the shop floor really inspires me; it shows that it can be done.”
Sam Booth, head of design technology at Bradfield School in Worrall, says: “One of the top ways to get girls into the industry is to show them inspirational female engineers, and that is very difficult for us to do at school when there are just two engineering teachers, both of whom are male. When you bring them to an environment like the AMRC, they can see immediately that there are females in engineering and female apprentices at the AMRC Training Centre.
“Seeing the Design and Prototyping Centre was great because it is spotless and not what you think an engineering environment would look like,” she continues. “It is very, very high-end, with engineers working on projects which these students found fascinating. Some of the girls have found it quite surprising really; they didn’t expect it to be like that. We just need to change the misconceptions of parents now, because for the students, it definitely has.”
On the exclusive social media group, Booth adds: “Having that continuation after the event, where hopefully the girls can speak to each other, could actually be something quite powerful. The key is that teachers are not involved, the pupils support each other.”
AMRCtribe will continue throughout 2020, with further events for schools at the AMRC, and STEM-inspired social events for those girls involved in the social media group.
Concludes Swales: “A lot of girls come to us with the mind-set that STEM isn’t for them. We want to challenge stereotypes and show girls that they can achieve anything they put their mind to.”
