This week a series of events were held throughout Scotland to raise the profile of apprenticeship opportunities and careers, with many construction and built environment events, support from CITB for pledging apprenticeship placements and a £125,000 funding boost for female STEM apprenticeships.
Events included:
- Apprentices working on Historic Scotland funded Saltcoats Town Hall
- The Scottish Federation of Housing Association (SFHA) Apprentice Challenge
- Falkirk Council Traditional Building Skills showcase and workshops
- Historic Scotland Craft fellows working on sculptural projects
The Scottish Government writes:
Women will receive further help in taking up careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) from a new programme to support Modern Apprenticeships (MAs).
The Scottish Government is investing a further £125,000 in the CareerWISE initiative to raise awareness of STEM MAs to girls and their parents, break down barriers to women taking them up and showcase employers taking action to address gender diversity in MAs.
CareerWISE, which is delivered by Equate Scotland at Edinburgh Napier University, was created in 2013 to raise awareness of STEM careers for girls from school age onwards. The announcement coincides with the start of Scottish Apprenticeship Week 2015, the annual showcase to highlight the benefits of MAs to both employers and potential trainees.
Cabinet Secretary for Fair Work, Skills and Training Roseanna Cunningham said: ‘The CareerWISE programme has made a considerable impact over the last 18 months however there remains the need to address gender balance in the STEM sectors in Scotland. The Scottish Government still firmly believes that there is no such thing as a job for a boy or a job for a girl. Our continued support for the CareerWISE programme and its new focus to support young women access STEM MAs sits at the heart of our drive for a more productive and fairer work place.
‘I am very pleased to be able to fund this very specific piece of work that CareerWISE will take forward. This is further illustration of our determination to respond positively to recommendations of the report into Developing Scotland’s Young Workforce.
‘We need more women to take up non-traditional career paths to achieve gender equality in the workplace. We are also committed to creating 30,000 new MA opportunities every year by 2020 and more women placed in STEM sectors will help us move towards that goal. This year’s Scottish Apprenticeship Week looks like being the biggest yet with dozens of events up and down the country with a number of Scottish ministers getting involved in both local and national initiatives. BT have already seized the initiative by announcing 90 new MA posts on Friday, and I hope the next week’s activity encourages even more employers to consider the advantages of MAs to their business and the wider economy.’
View the Scottish Government news release
More information on the work of EQUATE initiative
Information on support from CITB for apprenticeships in the Pledge Campaign
View more information on the construction events which took place as part of Scottish Apprentice Week
