The FINANCIAL — Land Rover and WISE called for female students to apply for its Range Rover Evoque WISE Scholarship, a £9,000 bursary for young women who have completed their GCSEs or A levels and wish to study for an engineering degree or apprenticeship, according to Tata Sons.
The bursary, applications for which close on August 31, will be awarded to three female students or apprentices who would like to explore a career or further studies in engineering. In addition, the winners will be provided with mentoring support from both Land Rover senior engineers and WISE representatives. Minister for Skills, Matthew Hancock, MP, welcomed the initiative.
In May this year, Zara Phillips, whose grandmother the Queen has worked as a mechanical engineer in the Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS), launched the campaign at the Royal Windsor Horse Show.
Ms Phillips spoke about how inspiring both her grandmother and her mother were in encouraging young women to consider a career in engineering. The Queen, then Princess Elizabeth, joined the ATS at her own insistence in 1945, aged 18. Having enlisted as a subaltern, the Queen progressed by the end of the war to the rank of junior commander after completing course No1 at the Mechanical Training Centre of the ATS. As part of her training to become a fully qualified driver, the then Princess had to learn how to fix a car, including changing the wheel and basic engine maintenance.
Princess Anne is the patron of WISE, which helps organisations to inspire women and girls to pursue science, technology, engineering and mathematics as pathways to exciting and fulfilling careers.
Britain needs to double the number of engineering graduates and triple the number of engineering apprentices by 2020 to meet industry needs, according to a report published by EngineeringUK. At present, just 13 percent of engineering undergraduates are females, a problem Land Rover is determined to address. In addition to the Range Rover Evoque WISE Scholarship, Land Rover already runs specific training schemes to support ambitious female engineers, according to Tata Sons.
“The UK has a rich heritage of women in engineering, encouraged by the success of the ATS. I’m delighted to be supporting the Range Rover Evoque WISE Scholarship which provides young women with the opportunity to progress in their career. In the Three Day Eventing world, I compete equally with men and enjoy the challenge. In fact, on the Olympic team there was actually only one man and we all made a great team. There are equal opportunities for both men and women to succeed in engineering, and now is an exciting time to get involved,” said Ms Phillips.
“Land Rover has a proud tradition of encouraging diversity in the workplace. Engineering is at the very heart of our business and we rely on a broad range of talents to give us a competitive edge and help us move forwards. We hope that the Range Rover Evoque WISE Scholarship will inspire a new generation of women in engineering,” said Nicci Cook, senior HR manager from Land Rover.
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