Jenny Mahe, 18, is an apprentice electrician and Skye Gardner, 18, a plumber. They join GE’s first-ever female jointer apprentice, 20-year-old Lauren Ferneyhough, who is in her second term of training.
The company has at least 20 apprentices at any one time.
Miss Ferneyhough got interested in jointing by chance when her dad forwarded her a Facebook advert for the apprenticeship to her.
She was already familiar with practical work, having long helped her dad around the house with DIY jobs such as putting shelves up, painting and sanding.
‘I thought that looked quite interesting, I’ll give it a go.
‘I haven’t grown up in household where it’s like “men can only do this, women can only do that”,’ she said.
‘I’m a pretty hands-on person. I never liked the idea of sitting in an office staring at a screen all day. In school, I always thrived in science when you’re mixing all the stuff together. I liked being outside for PE. But when I was doing the tests, it just wasn’t my thing – just sitting down wasn’t my thing.’
Miss Ferneyhough did not focus heavily on STEM subjects for her A-levels. She studied art, photography, core maths and wrote an EPQ on the subject of an American serial killer.
Working in a heavily male-dominated industry, she said she was used to getting some funny looks or the occasional ‘childish comment’ when she turned up on a site, and when she first started going away to the UK for training, she found herself being only one of two girls in a class of 100.
‘To be completely honest, I’ve had a few issues, but it doesn’t really affect me. With small things I just brush it off, or I face it and let them know that I’m not happy with what they’re saying,’ she said.
‘The people that I work with are very friendly.
‘I get along with them, so it’s nice to be in a community that is really supportive and pushes everyone to do the best they can. I’m growing as a person, and I’m happy where I am.’
When asked what message she would like to send to other young women thinking about joining a similar industry, she said: ‘Don’t be scared. Even though there is that sense of it being male-dominated, whether it’s plumbing or what I do, just go for it, because that’s the most you can do. Go for it. If you don’t like it, then you can just quit.’
The company has recruited a couple of female apprentices in the past, such as Sally-Ann David, an engineering apprentice who became the utility’s chief operating officer.
But this is the first time it has ever had three female apprentices on the books at one time.
GE’s Kayley Clarke said that the company was seeing an increasing amount of female applicants for apprenticeships, which she puts down to increasing visibility of female role models in the industry.
‘For many years it has been very male-dominated.
‘Even at schools it wasn’t really something that I think girls thought they could go into. Now we’re trying to get out there and say it’s a career for anyone,’ she said.
‘It’s really about educating people – when we have the Careers Fair, we can have females come up and say to them, “Have you ever thought about a career in this area?” Then that starts that thought process “actually, I can do that career”.
‘The way we recruit is always that it’s the most suitable candidate for the position.
‘That was the case for all of these three, and they give us a really good balance.’