Pupils from Lewis Girls Comprehensive School, in Ystrad Mynach, have taken part in a university-backed project to encourage more young women into the field of engineering.
The University of South Wales set six pupils from the Ystrad Mynach school the task to provide a lesson to younger pupils to persuade them to look at engineering as a career option. Currently, just 6% of UK engineers are female.
The sixth formers planned and carried out a trial workshop for an all-female class where pupils had to build a rubberband helicopter. Following the class, the younger pupils said they wanted to find out more about engineering.
Student Jasmine Warrell, 17, from Ystrad Mynach, who was the workshop’s project manager, said: “I had no previous interest within engineering and had become very weary of this project once I began researching.
“I found it to be a very male-dominated subject and, mix that with my preconceptions of it being a ‘dirty’ job, it really did not interest me.
“Once I researched more I began to gain interest and wanted to explore the area further. I managed to get on a course with Network Rail and gained valuable experience with them. I saw what different areas were available within the subject and I would like to continue this into my further studies.
“If I were given the opportunity early enough, I could have given more thought into choosing my A level subjects but this will not stop me from progressing within engineering.”