Merril Cummerson and Victoria Snape, two female colleagues from our Fiddler’s Ferry Power Station in Warrington recently attended a ‘Females in Industry’ event held at a local high school. The event aimed to raise awareness of female roles within the industry and present positive role models to the pupils.
The students, all girls in year 9, took part in activities designed to reduce stereotypes, improve confidence and raise aspirations. The activity involved a number of female employees from a variety of professions and industries dressing in ‘civilian’ clothes and being asked a series of questions by groups of pupils, which would help them to establish what each person does for a living.
Once the questioning was finished, the students tried to guess their professions. Then the employees dressed in their uniform or PPE, or carried equipment associated with their role and the students found out if they had guessed the right jobs.
Once the professions had been revealed, the attendees spoke to the students about their careers, explaining what they do on a day to day basis and what qualifications they needed for their role. This helps the students to prepare for choosing their 'options' to study at GCSE at the end of this academic year. It is hoped that the exercise improves confidence and raises aspirations.
A teacher at the school, Ms. Amanda Shaw said: “The girls took an enormous amount from this event which really opens their eyes to a wide range of career opportunities. The employees were so inspiring and they made the girls aware that the only obstacle in their way of achieving success is their own lack of self-belief.”
Other female guests taking part included a chief petty officer from Royal Navy, an intelligence analyst from RAF, a firefighter, a deputy head from a vocational college for women, a HGV driver, a regeneration officer from a construction company, a quality monitoring assistant from Liverpool Women’s Hospital, and a local government councillor. From Fiddler’s Ferry Power Station were Merril Cummerson, an education officer at the site, and Victoria Snape, the senior authorised person in the main control room.
Gemma Hill-Davis, the Education Resource Centre Manager at Fiddler’s Ferry Power Station said: “Merril and Vicky really enjoyed their time at the well attended event. They were surprised with some of the job suggestions - some of the girls guessed that Vicky was a toothpaste model!”