OREANDA-NEWS. October 05, 2015.  SSE has been shortlisted for a top award for its work in boosting the numbers of females taking up science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) training in 2015.

The small team of Kerryanne Ashburn, HR Resourcing Manager, and Laura Chetta, Resource Consultant, dedicated this year’s recruiting drive to increasing gender diversity within SSE.

They have been nominated for the Campaign Award, which recognises success in increasing the number of female job offers into STEM related vacancies

SSE’s HR Resourcing Team - Pipelines project has three main programmes: The Engineering Graduate Programme, Trainee Engineer Programme and Apprentice Programme.

Across the three programmes, SSE offers approximately 200 vacancies each year in engineering related roles and this number is expected to rise year on year. 

Their work has seen significant impact on the number of female applications – boosting response rates by 44%.

The Graduate Engineering Programme, which saw less than 1% of offers being made to females in 2014, saw offers increased to 23.5% in 2015.

Kerryanne said: “Gender diversity was at the heart of our campaigns this year. Within our adverts, video blogs on our web pages and throughout careers events materials and we took the opportunity to showcase our female colleagues who have found success at SSE.

“We see these females as ambassadors for SSE and they have also featured prominently in different news items on our website.

“To be nominated by WISE is fantastic, however, winning this award would be an accreditation to our increased commitment in diversity and inclusion and would give recognition of the proactive approach we have taken to encouraging a gender balance in our sector. That would give confidence to other females we are an employer of choice.”

WISE inspires girls and women to study and build careers using science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM).

Helen Wollaston, WISE Director, said: “I was blown away by the passion, energy, commitment and sheer dogged determination of the girls and women we met yesterday. They are shining examples of talent which is changing the face of the UK’s science, technology and engineering industries, to keep us at the forefront of global innovation and make the world a better place”.  

Case Study: Emma Mackay, electrical power engineering apprentice

“Having left school with no clear career path, I heard about the ‘Employability’ 10 week work experience programme SSE was offering and decided it was something I should try.

“Admittedly when I first started it was a bit daunting to be a female in male-dominated sector, but everyone was extremely friendly and soon I didn’t feel out of place at all.

“The programme gave me the opportunity to consider a career path I had not previously thought about and opened my eyes to a whole new world within the energy industry.

“My background is largely in the amateur dramatics world, so I would not perhaps seem like the usual candidate for an Electrical Apprenticeship. However, having the chance to step into the energy sector for those 10 weeks showed me this is the sector I now want to develop a career in.

“If I was asked by other women about working in an engineering environment I would encourage them to give it a go because more women are needed in these types of roles. Women have just as much to offer and like me they may find they feel quite at home.

“Considering I didn’t know what I wanted to do when I left school, SSE has now given me something to aspire to and I can’t wait to start.”