AN Edinburgh space engineering company is staging a special educational event designed to boost female representation in the industry after learning of one six-year-old’s admiration for the firm on social media.
A team from Skyrora will travel 380 miles south to Newport for the workshop after hearing about Lexie Morgan’s passion for engineering.
Now Morgan and more than 200 of her fellow rainbows, brownies, guides and rangers will be given the chance to earn specially designed space badges with the help of Skyrora experts.
The youngsters will take part in a series of tasks, such as designing miniature rocket models and making their own meteorite finders.
The event will highlight the wide range of career opportunities that are available in the space engineering industry.
Sam Morgan, Lexie’s mother, said: “Lexie first heard about Skyrora when we were on holiday in Cornwall. She saw that Skyrora was going to use Cornwall airport as a test site and she was absolutely ecstatic. She said to me: ‘mummy, I’m going to work there.’
“We didn’t really think much more of it until Skyrora got in touch with me on the back of something I had tweeted and asked if they could get involved with the Brownies’ space badge.
“I think it’s really important to help young girls learn more about traditionally masculine industries and I’m very grateful to Skyrora for getting involved with the event.”
Skyrora is committed to educating younger generations, having already signed up to the STEM Ambassador Programme.
Following presentations at Edinburgh University, an RAF100 celebration event at RAF Syerston and mini-rocket workshops with youngsters at the Scottish International Airshow, the firm is now visiting schools across the UK to teach students more about science, technology, engineering and maths – often referred to as the ‘STEM’ subjects.
Despite recent improvements, women are still underrepresented in the industry, occupying only 24% of STEM positions.
UN estimates suggest that by 2025 there will be seven million new STEM jobs but a shortage of qualified candidates to fill them, underlining the importance of inspiring young girls.
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