Women are under-represented in engineering in the UK where they make up only 7% of the workforce.
A recent UK government campaign from the Department of Work and Pensions sets out to encourage more young women to study or work in science, technology, engineering, and maths sectors, by highlighting the success of female apprentices in the oil and gas sector and using the social media hashtag #NotJustforBoys.
For many young women looking to pursue a career in engineering when they leave school, going straight to university might seem like the best option, but Opito, the skills body for the oil and gas industry, want to inspire more girls to apply for apprenticeship programmes in the oil and gas industry.
One young woman who decided to choose an apprenticeship over a university lecture hall was Ellie Mair. The 18-year-old turned down unconditional offers to study law at university and instead accepted an electrical engineering apprenticeship through the UK Upstream Oil and Gas Industry Technician Training (UOGITT) Scheme.
