MOTORSPORT UK:
GIRLS ON TRACK
THE CHALLENGE
According to a June 2021 report by Engineering UK, women make up just 16.5% of the nation’s engineers. When it comes to motorsport, the picture is not much more optimistic: a 2021 ESPN survey looking at female representation within Formula 1 showed that while women are slowly making their way into the world’s leading championship, gender equality in the paddock is still very much out of reach. It is also worth noting that this data is somewhat limited with only four of the ten Formula 1 teams contributing to the survey. However, a recent report by More Than Equal found female fans of Formula 1 are around 10 years younger than their male counterparts, highlighting an emerging generation of women engaged in motorsport who should not be overlooked.
Action on this issue is crucial: when it comes time for girls to make their career choices, if they don’t see anyone who looks like them in roles they wish to fill, the problem is perpetuated, leading to fewer women entering certain industries and/or reaching the top of the pyramid.
OUR APPROACH
As a female-led company in the STEM industry, we are passionate about encouraging and inspiring young girls and women to pursue a career in motorsport. We have worked with the Department of Education to build The Code, a UK wide initiative in which signatories organisations collaborate in creating best practice and alignment with the UK School curricula for STEM outreach, and we have partnered with the FIA to advocate engineering in motorsport to enlarge the base of the pyramid of women being involved in the sport.
One way we are working to accelerate progress is through our partnership with several STEM initiatives, including the FIA Girls on Track (GoT) UK programme, run by Motorsport UK (formerly Susie Wolff’s Dare to be Different)Girls on Track UK is a core priority for Enovation Consulting; our CEO is an ambassador of the programme and many of our employees actively participate as mentors and leaders at GoT events throughout the year. We developed and delivered an activity to be run as part of a GoT day alongside other enriching STEM programs; a STEM coding activity using LEGO, and as part of our ongoing commitment we send female professionals currently engaged in STEM related careers to deliver the activity, providing girls from the ages of 8-18 with authentic role models. GoT days are free to attend, aiming to show the breadth of possibilities in the engineering and technology world in a way that is not only tangible and accessible, but also fun.
THE IMPACT
Enovation Consulting has been the official STEM partner of the FIA GoT UK initiative since 2018, and our team has delivered STEM activities to over 1800 girls in partnership with GoT and Motorsport UK between 2021-23 alone. In addition, we support the FIA GoT community, and several members who have participated in these events have gone on to fill positions in the most prominent motorsport engineering departments in the country, demonstrating its impact and importance.
Jenny Fletcher, Girls on Track UK Programme Manager at Motorsport UK, reflects on our collaboration: “We are so lucky to have the incredible team from Enovation Consulting supporting FIA Girls on Track UK The team bring along endless enthusiasm, commitment and also a fantastically engaging STEM LEGO coding activity which always excites the girls. The building, problem solving, and coding skills that are gained through this activity are all so important for the girls to have exposure to at a young age, and which really excite them around the world of engineering. The difference they are making to the next generation getting into the world of motorsport and STEM is huge.”
