The BIS (Business, Innovation and Skills) See Inside Manufacturing invited 70 female students to gain first-hand experience behind the scenes of some of the world’s biggest food manufacturers in partnership with the Food and Drink Federation (FDF) and youth skills initiative MyKindaCrowd.
“Our research showed 71% of young people are not aware of the career opportunities available in the food and drink industry. So these site visits are vital,” said William Akerman, founder/MD, MyKindaCrowd.
“All of the visits have been extremely inspiring for the students and it is very encouraging that businesses are proactively looking to support more females into STEM roles.”
The programme delivered exclusive site visits with practical challenges for Year 12 and 13 students from a range of schools studying A-Level STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) subjects. The objective of the visits was to encourage young women to pursue a STEM career in the food and drink industry.
The students not only saw things from an industry perspective but got to grips with challenges included designing a chocolate production line and creating an advertising campaign.