Lavender International has been raising the bar this year to support and promote diversity within the NDT industry, as well as celebrating the achievements of talented female engineers.  We acknowledge that less than 10% of women choose engineering as a profession the UK, and this figure could be less for NDT.  In order to meet the global technological challenges of the future, a more gender diverse workforce is essential.

We have an equal female-male workforce at Lavender’s and are extremely proud to have two female tutors who have extensive experience working within the engineering industry.  We believe that employees should be given opportunities to progress and learn more about our industry by attending training courses, events and conferences.  Our non-technical employees also get the opportunity to learn about the technicalities of the field by sitting on our Introduction to NDT course.

Our vision is to not only inspire women within the industry, but also play a part in helping address the skills shortage and aging workforce.  We believe that an important part of achieving this is by raising the awareness of NDT to the younger generation and encouraging them to think about the incredible opportunities that the NDT industry has to offer.

Given the known influence of gender stereotypes in society, introducing STEM activities needs to start at a young age, particularly for young girls, to encourage the perusal of an engineering career later in life.  Taking this into account, we regularly attend career fairs and work closely with the UTC Sheffield and local schools, providing demonstrations of different types of NDT methods and allowing students to have a hands-on experience.

Our STEM ambassador has also been working with a local primary school as part of the Tekk Challenge project – a project aimed to promote, encourage and educate the younger generation about Engineering.  Over the last few months, the students have been tasked to come up with their own Engineering company, which has consisted of designing logos, outfits and creating a wooden bridge that must be eco-friendly and durable. Such a project hopes to demonstrate to students that a career in engineering can be both rewarding and creative.

We also fully support the delivery of the new NDT Apprenticeships and believe these are a great initiative to help encourage people to consider NDT as a career option.

Lavender International will continue to inspire the next generation of inventors, innovators and new NDT inspectors, whilst promoting diversity within the industry.