According to a report in the Telegraph, only 8.5 per cent of the UK’s engineers are women and 62 per cent of 11-21 year-old girls believe engineering and technology is just for boys.

Engineering solutions firm adi Group says that these skewed perceptions of engineering are preventing young women from considering a career in engineering and contributing to a widening skills gap.

The company is planning to address this and last month it launched the UK’s first pre-apprenticeship scheme for 14-16 year olds.

Run in partnership with a local secondary school, the scheme involves adi engineers teaching core practical skills to 12 pupils (including three girls) in a live workshop for half a day each week. By introducing young women to the world of engineering at an early age, it is hoped that more of them will choose to enter a career in the industry after they’ve completed their studies.

CEO and founder of adi Group, Alan Lusty, said: “Despite recent figures showing more people are entering apprenticeship schemes than ever before, for every female apprentice working within the UK engineering sector there are 25 male apprentices. With apprenticeships being the main route into engineering roles it is hardly surprising that the UK has the lowest proportion of female engineering professionals.

“The rest of the world is continuing to develop and grow its engineering proficiency and this creates more competition than ever before. If the UK is to maintain its lead as a true innovator, then we must work harder. A key part of the solution lies in providing engineering training for young women before they make important career decisions.”

He continued: “Our new pre-apprenticeship scheme links together industry and education to show school age children the benefits of engineering and present it as a viable career option.

“We hope that by taking on a healthy proportion of male and female apprentices each year we can contribute to closing the skills gap, ensuring that well-trained, dedicated professionals continue to enter the profession.

For more information visit http://adiltd.co.uk/careers/