FIFTEEN female students from across Scotland took part in a unique two week industry experience with Shell and are pictured at the Mossmorran NGL Plant.

The ‘Girls in Energy’ programme aims to inspire female students who are interested in a career in Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM). The course also aims to encourage the students to consider a future career in the Energy industry.

During their two week placement, the students received presentations on the wide variety of careers available in the energy industry from Shell employees. They also visited a range of oil and gas contractors, which included Survivex, Subsea 7, 3M as well as visiting the Mossmorran Gas Plant. To conclude their experience, the students travelled to London to take part in Shell’s Make the Future Festival.

Speaking about this unique event, Shell’s Vice President for Upstream in the UK and Ireland, Paul Goodfellow said: “Shell has a vital role to play in inspiring the next generation of engineers and scientists. We need to develop and recruit the right people to meet one of the biggest challenges facing the world right now

"We know the UK is facing a major shortage of STEM skills. Research tells us that we need to double the number of people going into engineering and importantly we need to encourage more women to consider careers in the energy industry.”

This year Shell sponsored over 120 young females from across Scotland who are taking part in the “Skills for Work - Energy” - a one year programme designed to open young women’s eyes to the energy industry’s wealth of career opportunities.

The programme is targeted at girls aged between 14 to 16 who are in secondary education and is delivered by North East Scotland College (NESCol) and Fife College. The project-based course covers topics including solar and wind energy, oil and gas, and carbon storage. This means the girls have to apply their skills across a variety of subjects to produce the reports or presentations they are assigned.

Chi Vo from Madras College in Fife described her experience: “My time with Shell has inspired me to apply the physics that I have learnt during my fourth year. Meeting people from different countries was the best part of this experience, because I believe that humans can evolve and become civilized by learning and sharing knowledge“.

Before starting the programme many of the young students believed that working for Shell meant working on a platform in the middle of the North Sea, or in a petrol station, but that perception was knocked on the head after their two weeks stint in the Upstream business.

“Having spent this time with Shell, I have seen a huge variety of careers available both offshore and onshore that are available to me, across the world," said Ellie Christie.