HOST: Shelley Zalis ‑ The Female Quotient/ Girls Lounge
Imogen Pierce ‑ Aerodynamics Engineer and Programme Attribute Leader at Jaguar Land Rover
Michelle Kennedy ‑ Entrepreneur and founder of Peanut
Baron David Blunkett ‑ Former Home Secretary and champion for Diversity and Inclusion
Benita Mehra ‑ President of Women’s Engineering Society
DR Lucia Carassiti & Sophie Wakeford (Morsa Images) ‑ Women in Engineering ‑ Solihull
Watch the edited highlights of the Woman and Machine Debate below
Women and Machine - Shelley Zalis
Like every company we are facing a skills gap and we need to attract the right talent. In short, we all need girls to take science, technology, engineering and maths subjects.
Men dominate the UK automotive industry, filling 91% of engineering roles. There are fewer women in senior roles and there is a gender pay gap that is made worse by the low number of women coming into the industry and flourishing within it. Yet while attracting talent today is more competitive than ever, things are changing for the better.
We’re changing the conversation ‑ CEO, The Female Quotient and Founder, The Girls’ Lounge, Shelley Zalis on women taking the initiative.
Recruiting, training and retaining an engaged, skilled workforce that is aligned to the needs of the business is at the heart of our success strategy.
We believe that recruiting a skills‑based workforce is key to succeeding in the rapidly changing global business environment.
Women and Machine ‑ Imogen Pierce
"Girls should be encouraged to enjoy making mistakes, to move away from the pressure to be perfect." Imogen Pierce, Jaguar Land Rover
Women and Machine - David Blunkett
We are tackling the attitude that engineering is a male‑dominated industry head‑on by inspiring young people to explore the next generation of exciting career opportunities within engineering.
The record numbers of female engineering apprentices joining Jaguar Land Rover in our September 2017 intake were up 150% on last year.
Helping women reach their full potential isn't only the right thing to do, it makes good economic and business sense.
We are changing the converstation and making the changes needed to ensure the gap is closing.
Women and Machine ‑ Yihyun Lim (left) and Dr Matilda Andersson
Watch the full version of the Woman and Machine Debate below
What do you think? #JLRTechFest