Shrinking the Gender Gap in Engineering

Shrinking the Gender Gap in Engineering

Report by Nellie (L6) - 

Every soldier in the Royal Engineers has a trade – some have multiple trades and every one of them attracts that soldier to a specific unit where they will be deployed. However, before all of this, all soldiers must endure basic training lasting around 14 weeks on site with an allowance to go home on the weekends. After the introduction of basic training we heard about a few of the adventures the soldiers were able to experience through the army.

Their activities were funded by the army and were practical opportunities for the soldiers to develop skills and get to know one another; these excursions would range from jumping out of planes, to skiing in France, to implementing communication systems as part of their trade education. However, the soldiers were also deployed on exercise – which were slightly less glamorous - but consisted of living out in the wild in camps across the UK, living off pretty basic rations.

One of our speakers was in the reserve specialists which means that he can provide his specialist skills to the army within his spare time and can be called for deployment if and when needed. On one of his excursions, he was lucky enough to travel to Nepal for £50 over a duration of 21 days, experiencing all types of terrain, and meeting other reserves – growing his network.

During Ellie Morgan’s time training to be an electrician, she spent much of her time in sport and adventure training. This meant that she was able to meet new people and even represent the army in power lifting competitions, which previously she had never even tried before. Furthermore, her highlights did not purely consist of exercises and sport but also representing the army in the Queens funeral, where she marched for three hours through the streets of London.

The soldiers also talked us through some further details of the basic training and their time spent specialising in their trade. The basic training for a soldier is 14 weeks whereby they will learn the basic needs of a soldier and survival away from camp. For the regiment of the royal engineers, the standardised training to specialise in a specific role can vary from 8-43 weeks but different trades will require more time than others. The soldier training covers a wide range of skills such as; riffle handing, field craft, fitness training, casualty drills, CBRN, health and further education if required. The CBRN is a vital part of the armed forces as it prepares soldiers and officers for chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear attacks.

There are a total of 19 different trades within the royal engineers which soldiers can choose to specialise in and there is 99% chance that soldiers secure the jobs in the area they hoped for. These trades vary from; plant operator, bricklayer, EOD (explosive ordnance disposal) and search and welding. With all these trades, soldiers receive a qualification and if they choose to leave the army, their qualifications are still highly valuable and transferable . One role that stood out to many of us was the role of a geographical technician as it is extremely specialised and is an extremely valuable degree to have within and outside of the army. The training given in the royal engineers secures soldiers with strong qualifications that makes them employable if and when they choose to leave the army whilst enjoying some incredible experiences.