Sophie Gilmore left high school with no qualifications or GCSEs.
Despite this, she still managed to secure a job in hairdressing after leaving her secondary school education years behind at the all-girls school she attended. Initially, the 40-year-old from Kirkdale, thought she was on the right track in life having always been taught there are certain jobs reserved for females - ranging from hairdressing and beauty to social and health care.
Where Sophie is now - manager director of one of the UK’s leading engineering and green energy training centres - is miles away from where she thought she would be when she was younger.
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It wasn’t because the then-teenager didn’t have the skills fit for the roles but more so because she had always been taught the jobs weren’t compatible with her gender.
The former All Hallows Catholic High School pupil, who now lives in Allerton, told the ECHO: “There aren’t enough female role models for young people to relate to. They need to be able to see these role models from as young as primary school to show them they can be whoever they want to be. I never had that in school, I couldn’t see any of the high-performing roles or well-paid jobs being taken by anyone who looked like me or my family members. That was a real issue for me.”
When Sophie first came into the sector, she recalled there were a lot of challenges she faced around different issues including sexism and ageism. As a result of the vast majority of Sophie’s customers and staff being male, she knew she needed to “work harder to prove” herself.
The former Hugh Baird College student said: “My age was a problem because typically I’m younger than the workforce. This, as well as being a woman who hadn't been in the sector before meant I had to work really hard to show others I had skills around leadership, resilience and empathy that would benefit the business.
“Over time, I won the team round and they appreciate the skills I now bring to the table and to the business. We are satisfied with each other and we all know the business wouldn’t be as successful as it is with only one skill set. It took all of us to make it work."
Now, under Sophie’s leadership, HybridTec has seen a substantial period of growth and has expanded across the UK. The award-winning business leader has ensured her senior leadership team and non-executive board have higher rations of female members than male - meaning from the highest level, challenges women can face have been taken into consideration to inform policies and practices.
Sophie's story coincides with International Women’s Day 2023. The day, which is celebrated globally on March 8, sees a number of missions to help forge a gender-equal world. This year’s theme is #EmbraceEquity and despite the theme changing annually, the core message remains the same - celebrate women’s achievements, increase visibility and call out inequality.
The former hairdresser added: “The day is hugely important. We are seeing increasing numbers of women moving into the industry and this is a welcome development for us in the sector. Women are historically significantly underrepresented in STEM, but more and more women are feeling confident to explore training and careers.
“We have seen a shift away from traditional ideas of jobs for girls and the attitude within the industry is clearly moving to a more inclusive and diverse approach to training and recruitment – however there is still a long way to go.”
Jacqui Johnson also works in a male-dominated industry. The 49-year-old is the communications director for the city-centre-based civil and structural engineering firm, Sutcliffe.
Jacqui, who is from Aintree, wants to show the younger generation of females they can be "the next generation to build and design the schools, hospitals, homes and buildings of today and tomorrow”. She told the ECHO: “If young girls and women knew just how varied, interesting and well-paid a career in our sector was, I have no doubt figures (of females in the sector) would rocket. There is a huge skills gap in our sector.”
Having been in the industry for almost three decades, Jacqui has seen a culture shift and with this has come more women into higher-paid jobs and she hopes to see this continue this year.
Jacqui is now in her 28th year in the engineering industry and is now the first female director of the firm.
She added: “I wasn’t exposed to engineering jobs when I was younger. It was always told to me that it was for males and it was all about manual labour. Barriers need to be kicked down and education needs to be had because women are needed in male-dominated industries. We all have different skill sets and work better together. More businesses need to be working closely together with schools - it’s required now more than ever to get women in these positions.”
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