Minister praises role of female engineers in Selex ES

Angela Constance, MSP and Minister for Youth Employment in the Scottish Government, visited Selex ES’ Edinburgh site this August to be briefed on the company’s extensive apprenticeship and graduate programmes.

The minister heard how Selex ES invests in engineering and other specialist expertise across the business, as well as personal skills and team development. She expressed particular interest in the work it does with schools and colleges, where pupils are invited to engage with the excitement and innovation of a real industrial environment.

She was also keen to learn more about what had initially attracted the company’s female engineers to the sector and welcomed its commitment to encouraging better awareness of career options in this field.

“It was a pleasure to welcome Angela and for her to see at first hand the way we as a business invest in our research base, supply chain, export markets and of course in our people,” says Philip Pratley, Group Institutional Relations Director.

“She particularly enjoyed meeting a cross-section of our current graduates and apprentices and the stimulating accounts they gave of their work.”

“It is always a pleasure for me to visit organisations such as Selex ES that are creating opportunities for young people,” says the minister. “I particularly enjoyed meeting young women who are making their mark within the organisation as engineers, which we know is traditionally a very male dominated sector. Selex ES’s commitment to making young people their business sets a fantastic example and it is one I fully support as we continue to do all we can to keep taking Scotland’s youth unemployment rate in the right direction,” she adds.