BMW U.K. Looks to Cultivate Young Women Technicians

BMW offers young women in the U.K. the opportunity to follow Mini production from body panels to engine building, to a completed car rolling off the line.

It is a part of BMW’s Girls Go Technical program encouraging females aged 15-24 to consider a technical career in automotive manufacturing. It runs from Oct. 27-31 at the three plants in the automaker’s Mini and BMW U.K. production network in Birmingham, Oxford and Swindon.

Simon Farrall, head of apprentice and associate training-BMW Group U.K., says investment in young people is a key part of the company’s development strategy for its manufacturing plants.

“The automotive industry is still considered as a more appropriate career path for boys, and our program is designed to address this inequality and attract more girls to consider a technical career in this field,” Farrall says in a statement.

“On completion of the program, the participants will have gained an insight into the manufacturing processes and experienced the day-to-day challenges encountered by engineers and technical apprentices as well as augmenting their interview and job-application skills.”

Participants will engage in activities in the Oxford plant’s bespoke training school featuring state-of-the-art classrooms, dedicated computer-study areas and a fully equipped workshop.

Now in its second year, the Girls Go Technical program is a part of the annual U.K. government-industry initiative called “See Inside Manufacturing.”