£5 million a year to help women get on at work

7th March 2008

Skills Minister David Lammy has announced more support for recruitment and training to overcome the under-representation of women in five key sectors.

The Women and Work Sector Pathways Initiative, which has helped set out new recruitment and career pathways for over 8,000 women since 2006, will receive a further £5million a year for the next three years. The initiative is currently running projects with 9 Sector Skills Councils (SSCs). The 5 most successful projects will continue and we will encourage new innovative approaches next year. All SSCs will be given an opportunity to propose projects that address the needs of women in their sector. The projects will aim to help 5,000 women each year.

The initiative works to improve career opportunities for women in sectors and occupations where there are specific skills shortages and skills gaps and where women are under represented, in sectors as diverse as construction, agriculture, automotive retail, clothing and footwear manufacture and cleaning.

It enables SSCs to implement a range of focussed projects involving the recruitment, training and progression of women in their sectors.

Skills Minister David Lammy said:

"I am passionately committed to extending the opportunity to develop high quality skills to every individual, and to ensuring that every company can access the skills it needs to succeed.

Gender should be no barrier to a successful career. It's essential we provide extra support where it can do most good to help women overcome any barriers to recruitment or progression at work. The employer-led Sector Skills Councils understand their different sectors and so are best-placed to work with other similar employers to unlock all the talents in their workforce."

Sir Michael Latham, chairman of ConstructionSkills, said:

"Women and Work has given us the opportunity to invest in a wide range of entry and progression routes for women in the industry.

"In the first phase of the programme, more than 2,000 women went through construction-related training, and have been given support and guidance to enable them to get started and get on in the construction industry. We have worked with employers to provide health and safety and technical training, professional development and mentoring support for graduates.

"I am delighted that the programme has been extended as it will allow us to continue building on these positive outcomes."

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