Around 150 schoolgirls and their parents braved a stormy night to attend our STEM careers event at Netherhall School, Cambridge on the evening of November 9th. Their reward was to hear eight inspirational young women, working or studying in the sciences, IT and engineering, talk about their career paths to date. There were also information points around the room for each major discipline, where the girls and their parents could chat informally with the speakers and other volunteers after the talks were finished.
These were our speakers:
Anna Davanzo, Design Engineer, Marshall Aerospace
Felicity Dear, recent graduate in Materials Science
Kathy Hadfield, ARM
Aurelia Hibbert, engineering undergraduate and Programme Director of Cambridge University Eco Racing
Fiona Nielsen, CEO at Repositive
Katie Sarll, Horticultural Facility Assistant, Cambridge University Botanic Garden
Cara Walters, Scientific Officer, Cancer Research UK
Kirstie Whitaker, post-doc at Cambridge University Department of Psychiatry
We found that many pupils were reassured by the fact that several speakers either hadn’t known quite what they wanted to do when they left school, or had changed direction at some point. They had also valued the range of fields encompassed by the speakers, and the opportunities to chat with scientists and engineers later in the evening.
The event, open to girls between the ages of 13 and 18, was attended by pupils from a wide range of schools in Cambridge and the surrounding area, as well as a few receiving home education. Both the state and independent sectors were represented.
We are very grateful to ARM for sponsoring the event, to the speakers for giving up their time, to Netherhall School for providing the venue and support on the night, and to all our volunteers and helpers.
Claire Lucas, Deputy Chair, Cambridge AWiSE
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