LONDON — (BUSINESS WIRE) — May 7, 2014 — CH2M HILL is delighted to be supporting the ‘Your Life’ campaign launched today by the Chancellor, The Rt Hon George Osborne MP, to encourage more women to study science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) subjects and take up careers in this sector.
Employee-owned CH2M HILL welcomes this campaign and has worked for a long time to champion women in engineering through its STEM programmes in schools, apprenticeships and Women’s Network. In 2009 CH2M HILL was the first engineering and construction company to win the Catalyst Award, honouring innovative organisational approaches that advance women in the workplace.
To mark this continued support and commitment, CH2M HILL has pledged today:
· to set up a partnership with the Social Mobility Foundation to launch a programme specifically aimed at getting young women from disadvantaged backgrounds into engineering and STEM sector careers;
· to commit to leverage its UK Women’s Network to engage directly with young women to provide career advice in schools across the country;
· to continue its community investment programme by hosting more skills and employment fairs during 2014 to promote engineering and STEM.
Women from CH2M HILL's nuclear and transportation markets in the Leeds and Bristol offices represented the company. Bethany Wilson, Hannah Turner and Lynne Rogers attended the campaign launch and met with Government and industry representatives to discuss how they could help increase the number of women in the science, technology, engineering and maths sector.
Commenting on the launch of the ‘Your Life’ campaign, Mark Fallon, Managing Director for Europe at CH2M HILL, said: "We are really pleased to be supporting ‘Your Life’ and working alongside the Government to get more women into STEM and engineering subjects. CH2M HILL has a diverse range of people within its ranks and is proud to be a company that helps empower women in what is a traditionally male dominated sector. Our CEO, Jacque Hinman, is a great example of this and is just one of a huge number of successful senior females within the company. Through our involvement in this initiative we aim to work with Government to help make a positive change towards attracting more women studying STEM subjects, increasing the number of women pursuing careers in engineering and helping the UK reach the national target to double the number of women STEM undergraduates by 2030.”
David Johnston from the Social Mobility Foundation said: “We are delighted to be working in partnership with CH2M HILL to support young women from disadvantaged backgrounds into careers in the engineering and STEM sectors. Going forward there could be a real skills gap in the UK with a lack of engineers working on our major infrastructure projects. I am very pleased that we will be working with CH2M HILL to help fill this gap whilst more broadly helping to open access to a profession in which those from disadvantaged backgrounds are under-represented.”
For more information on this campaign and CH2M HILL’s involvement, please visit: http://www.yourlife.org.uk/
Notes to Editor:
1. CH2M HILL takes a leading approach to women in engineering and STEM through its apprenticeship programme. In March this year, our colleague Bethany Wilson, 20, received an award from the Institute of Civil Engineers for being the first female in the country to complete a new civil engineering apprenticeship introduced in 2011, and was chosen from thousands to be nominated for Apprentice of the Year at the Leeds Apprenticeship Awards.
2. As part of its Community Investment Programme, CH2M HILL has been working with communities across the UK since 2011 to help host skills and employment fairs. These fairs help young people and the long term unemployed gain the rights skills and techniques to make the necessary first steps into the world of work.
3. CH2M HILL has a dedicated Women's Network which provides the opportunity for colleagues to share information, ideas, experiences, and resources. The Network aims to promote an inclusive culture that actively promotes and supports the attraction, development, and retention of women; values the diversity that women bring to the table; and fuels our industry-leading position as one of the best places to work.
4. In 2009 CH2M HILL was the first engineering and construction company to win the Catalyst Award, honouring innovative organisational approaches that advance women in the workplace. The company received the award in 2009 as a one-time recognition of achievement. Also in that year, the company won the top employer in 'Woman Engineer Magazine'.
5. CH2M HILL started 'Constructing Pathways for Women Through Inclusion' - an initiative that leverages female employees by ensuring they are placed in important positions, are visible role models, and are responsible for high-profile projects, linking their expertise to business success.
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Employee-owned CH2M HILL is one of the world’s leading consulting, design, design-build, operations, and programme management companies serving government, civil, industrial and energy clients, employing over 30,000 people worldwide. Our work is concentrated in the areas of water, transportation, environmental, energy, facilities and resources.
CH2M HILL has operated in the UK for over 20 years and acquired Halcrow in 2011. Its European headquarters are in London and it employs over 3,400 people in the UK. CH2M HILL is working on some of the most iconic infrastructure programmes including High Speed 2, Thames Tideway Tunnels, the decommissioning of Dounreay and was one of the leading partners in CLM, Delivery Partner to the ODA for the London 2012 Olympic & Paralympic Games.
CH2M HILL is an active member of Business in the Community and the Employee Ownership Association.
Visit us at ch2mhill.com, twitter.com/ch2mhill and facebook.com/ch2mhill