Arup is very keen to broaden awareness of the opportunities for girls in Science Technology Engineering and Maths (STEM) subjects and specifically in engineering. There's a national shortage of qualified engineers in the UK currently so all employers are looking to broaden their future recruitment base. This means more opportunities for women and girls in these industries.

Arup supports National Women in Engineering Day (NWED) annually by inviting female school students to engage with them about engineering as a career choice and to discuss further related disciplines available within Arup.

Arup held a great event in Leeds UK

Nicola Talbot is a civil engineer, based in the Leeds Bridges and Civil Structures team. She is also a GirlGuidingUK Leader and to bring these two interests together she is hosting a special event in the Arup Leeds office for the Leeds County GirlGuides for National Women in Engineering Day on 22 June 2016.

At an event in Leeds, more than 30 local Guides visited the Arup office to find out more about what the company does. Over 10 Arup staff from the Leeds office volunteered to help deliver three different activities thanks to the local community engagement fund.

Nicola explains “The activities undertaken focused on relating engineering to the girls’ lives and experiences. The girls know all too well the disaster caused by flooding and so will be shown the Leeds Flood Alleviation Scheme, designed by Arup, currently on site only a 5 minute walk from the office. They learnt about the construction side of the project and saw the scheme in action. They were also shown how to clean dirty water just using sand and make their own filters.”

“A traditional skill of Guides and Scouts is Pioneering; building structures from just wood and rope. The girls’ mini-pioneering skills were tested to see who could build the best bridge.”

Arup event in Newcastle UK was exciting

Laura Chatwin and other colleagues in Arup's Newcastle office held a National Women in Engineering Day event at the office for around 25 Year 10 female students from local schools.

The girls had a tour around the office and took part in various workshop activities. This saw some exciting construction challenges using spaghetti and marshmallows, and a workshop on buildings services. A selection of Arup staff also did some insightful presentations about their work.

Laura says “We’re aiming to increase the awareness of engineering amongst students, especially girls. It's important year 10 students chose their A levels subjects well, and we hope Arup might perhaps influence them into considering STEM subjects”.

Arup's London UK event was a big success

In London, Eleanor Earl coordinated Arup’s input to a number of events for NWED.

Arup took part in a speed-networking session at UCL where over 120 female students participated alongside professionals from academia and industry including Google, British Airways, Deloitte and CISCO as well as Arup.  

Arup's Bethany O’Brien and Savina Carluccio visited Fortismore School and judged their Rollercoaster competition. Through the ICE some Arup staff have helped organise the Big Discussion, a joint-institution event at the IET. 

Find out more