March/April 2004
News

Bradford Engineers gender equality

A University scheme to encourage more girls to study engineering has been held up as a national model of best practice.

A case study on the School of Engineering, Design and Technology (EDT)'s annual WISE (Women into Science and Engineering) residential course has been included in a new resource pack for Universities produced by the Balance Project.

EDT Admissions Tutor Jack Bradley and Marketing Officer Joanne Crowther gave a presentation on its schools' activities programme at an event run by the Learning and Teaching Support Network. They are pictured here with Balance Project Manager Lesley Davis (centre).

The Balance Project, funded by FDTL (the Fund for Development of Teaching and Learning) aims to look at ways of encouraging more women into engineering.

Girls make up just 12% of all University engineering students across the UK.

EDT Admissions Tutor Jack Bradley and Marketing Officer Joanne Crowther gave a presentation on its schools' activities programme at an event run by the Learning and Teaching Support Network - a UK-wide project to promote high-quality learning and teaching in higher education - at the University of Bristol.

The pair told delegates that in the past four years the School has run about 60 events for more than 3,000 pupils in the area. After the presentation, representatives from Cambridge and Lancaster Universities asked for further information and guidance in running their own schemes.

Joanne said: "We were only too pleased to speak about our schools' activities programme and share our experience with other Universities. Our links with local schools - and particularly in this case with girls in Years 11 and 12 - are fundamental.

"There is a marked gender inequality in engineering in the UK and we hope that projects like WISE will help to address this in the years to come."

16 April 2004

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