Are women 'shying away' from careers in a crucial sector of the economy? Ahead of tomorrow's National Women in Engineering Day, we speak to a former apprentice about to start a full-time job at Drax Power Station who says engineering is her perfect career choice, but others are concerned that too few are following her example. ANDREW HITCHON reports

WATCHING her father tinkering with engine parts, bikes and old bits of machinery was what first sparked Alice Gill's interest in engineering.

Now Alice, 22, has completed a four-year apprenticeship at Drax Power Station, is set to take up a full-time position as a control and instrumentation craftsperson there and considers engineering to be the perfect career choice for her.

At school her favourite lesson was ‘resistant materials’; a subject that develops design and application skills using wood, metal, plastic and other composites, and it was here she discovered a natural aptitude for working with tools.

She went on to college to study maths and sciences, but quickly realised she missed the practical side of learning. Deciding against university, she started to think about career choices that would combine her practical and problem-solving skills.

“I like using my hands and I’m also a bit of a perfectionist, so engineering really appealed to me. I was keen to get on and learn real skills in an industry environment so an apprenticeship seemed like the obvious next step,” she said.

After researching the opportunities available she decided an apprenticeship at Drax offered the most comprehensive training, and that the power station’s upgrade to using compressed wood pellets in place of coal would offer both future job security and the chance to be involved with exciting new renewable power technology.

Alice began a four-year apprenticeship in control and instrumentation. This involves the repair and maintenance of monitoring equipment and devices linked to the control room and the smooth operation of the plant’s six power generating units, which together supply about eight per cent of the UK’s electricity needs every day.

During her training she worked towards an NVQ Level 3 in Electrical Power Plant Engineering- Power Plant Maintenance (Control and Instrumentation) and a BTEC Level 3 Diploma in Electrical Engineering. In 2015 she was named third year Drax Apprentice of the Year and earlier this year graduated with a certificate of Advanced Apprenticeship in Power Generation.

Alice will take up her full-time position at the power station in September as part of a maintenance team responsible for quickly identifying and rectifying operational faults.

For her the most rewarding part of her job comes from finding the best solutions. She said: “I’m quite logical, which really helps in my area of work, but with a particularly complex problem that could have a number of possible causes, it can be challenging to decide which to investigate first.

"It is hugely satisfying to carry out a successful repair to a vital piece of plant or machinery and know that I’m helping to keep the UK’s lights on."

Alice said her own experience of working in male-dominated heavy industry had been 'brilliant' and she would not hesitate to recommend the profession to other women.

She said: “I am treated exactly the same as any of the other engineers and allowed to just get on with it. If you’re the right person for the job there is nothing at all to stop you, and previous engineering experience isn’t as important as having the right core skills.

"If you think it’s what you want to do then don’t let anything hold you back from a great career in a great industry. Just go for it.”

However, high-level concerns remain about the number of women going into engineering and the possible consequences.

Naomi Climer, president of the Institution of Engineering and Technology, said this was the third year that National Women in Engineering Day had been celebrated. "But behind the celebration is a worrying long-term trend for girls and women to shy away from an engineering career.

"This is not just an issue for gender diversity, it’s a very significant problem that is contributing to skills shortages which, if they go unchallenged, will damage our economy.

"In the UK, women represent just nine per cent of engineers, the lowest percentage in Europe. Analysis by the Royal Academy of Engineering suggests we will need more than a million new engineers and technicians by 2020 to fulfil demand and continue to boost the economy. So improving our gender diversity – and indeed our diversity more generally in engineering – has a strong economic motivation.

"What perplexes me most about all of this is that it doesn’t need to be this way. The variety of creative and stimulating careers available to women in modern engineering is vast – female engineers today are working on everything from healthcare technology that can combat some of the world’s most prevalent diseases, to designing the space vehicle for the next mission to Mars," she said.

"So how do we entice more girls into engineering? It’s a challenge the Institution of Engineering and Technology and others have been grappling with for years: finding and championing female engineering role models to inspire the next generation, working with schools and parents to make sure girls get the right career advice and encouraging more girls to study ‘engineering gateway’ subjects like maths and physics.

"Progress is slow – but I’m optimistic."