Ahead of this Friday’s international women’s day, Network Rail has hosted an outreach event to bust some of the myths on women in rail.
The event detailed some of the routes for women into the rail industry, including apprenticeships, STEM-based subjects, or graduate scheme opportunities.
As part of the event, year 10 and 12 students took part in a group activity that tasked them to build a bridge in the face of challenges like budget limitations, supply chain issues, and environmental problems.
Along with facing real-life challenges, the students could inhabit real-life roles such as project manager, project sponsor, environmental manager, etc.
The event emphasised that students should take the right route for them and working for Network Rail is for everyone.
Network Rail’s portfolio manager for the eastern region, Lily Shimmin, who organised the event, said: “Growing up, events like this were never hosted at my school and I wanted to organise something that reached out to students at key points in their education to show the various opportunities for women in the rail industry.
“It was created from a place of noticing a gap in the events that Network Rail run and wanting to make a real tangible difference to students careers.”
The aim is to expand these myth-buster events out into other regions, added Shimmin.
The event was hosted at York’s Mount School, where James Waddington, is the deputy head of college.
He explained: “It is so important for the girls to know what is out there in terms of opportunities, they made great progress in the session, and they now have a much wider understanding of some of the roles that would be available to them in a company like Network Rail.
“Especially as an all-girls school, it is vital to challenge any gender stereotypes that exist in jobs in the rail industry and to show that women can thrive just as strongly.”
Image credit: Network Rail
