Toyota Hosts Inspiration Day to Encourage Young Women Students to Pursue Auto Industry Career and Apprenticeships
Toyota opened its doors to provide the opportunity for up to 100 female secondary school students to discover the exciting career and apprenticeship opportunities available in its UK retail and manufacturing operations. The event, hosted at the Toyota Academy training centre located at the home of Toyota UK manufacturing in Derbyshire last week, supported the company’s mission to increase the representation of women within the UK motor industry and Toyota business, as a member of the Automotive 30% Club.
The female students were invited from 10 schools and the agenda for the day included group activities focusing on different work disciplines, including technical, customer care and manufacturing. The sessions included interactive activities and the chance to meet and talk to current apprentices, trainees and Toyota staff about their work and career opportunities.
There was also a general “Discover Toyota” overview of the company’s operations, with case studies relating the experiences of women in the motor industry and former apprentices.
Julia Muir CEO of Gaia Innovation and Founder of the UK Automotive 30% Club, said: “The way this generation of students is using technology is changing the way we live our lives and shaping the world of the future. We need a better gender balance in the creation and sale of our product to better reflect the customer base. I am extremely pleased that Toyota provided the opportunity for female students to hear this message and to leave the event inspired to consider an apprenticeship in the automotive industry.”
Robin Giles, Toyota GB’s Director of HR and Corporate Operations, said: “By inspiring schoolgirls to join Toyota and the wider automotive industry we can enable sustainable growth of business with a more balanced gender mix. Our event aimed to spark girls’ interest in the diverse roles on offer and the fantastic training and apprenticeship programmes that are available to them. We need more women in our industry so we can benefit from diversity of thinking in everything we do.”
