West Dunbartonshire Girls Are Inspired Into Construction

Girls from schools across West Dunbartonshire were given an insight into the construction industry at events held to encourage more women into trades.

hWS worked in partnership with West Dunbartonshire Council’s Educational Services department to invite all S3 female pupils from Clydebank High, St Peter the Apostle High, Dumbarton Academy, Our Lady & St Patricks High and Vale of Leven Academy to meet with construction professionals and learn about the range of careers available within the construction industry. 

hub West Scotland collaborated with their Supply Chain partners Lend Lease, BAM and Morgan Sindall to talk to the girls about the various opportunities within the industry. Pupils listened to representatives discuss the importance of females coming into the industry, and talked about the skills required for a career in construction.

Teachers who attended the event commented on the impact for the young people; Stephen Halkett, from Vale of Leven Academy noted,

 “Feedback from the pupils was highly positive with many individual tales of why the event was good for them.  I’ll share one.  Prior to the event, Kern Wilson, was a bit unsure over whether or not to attend and wondered if she would get anything out of it.  On the way back to school on the bus, she told me that she was now sure that she wanted to become a graphic designer having spoken to ‘the lady at table 4’.  Brilliant!”

Pupils were also given the chance to pose questions to women working in the industry and find out about the routes into the different careers.

Lynne McNeill, Community Benefits Manager at Lend Lease commented:

“This was a great initiative organised by West Dunbartonshire Council’s Education Department and Hub West Scotland to engage a large number of young ladies at a critical point in their career path. Many of the pupils will be thinking about their Higher subjects and potential destinations beyond school and this platform gave Lendlease and the other construction partners an opportunity to highlight the careers in the industry.  Hopefully we have inspired a few to consider the potential opportunities that are available in the construction sector.”

hub West Scotland are currently working on £80 million of projects with West Dunbartonshire Council, including the new Clydebank Leisure Centre and Our Lady and St Patricks High School. They commit to work with their partner organisations to provide education engagement and community benefits such as these events whilst delivering high quality local facilities. Their team is led by a female Chief Executive, Debbie McNamara, who added:

“I am proud to work with our partners to encourage young women into construction. It was traditionally a very male-dominated industry but that is changing.  Our successful collaboration with our supply chain partners is key to providing these events to the local community”

Councillor Michelle McGinty, Convenor of Educational Services, said: “Events such as this are fantastic for challenging perceptions and broadening the horizons of our pupils by highlighting the opportunities which are available in the construction industry. Gender is not a barrier and hopefully many of our young people who attended will now be inspired to follow a career in this field.”