Funding for women

The Learning and Skills Council has announced a £20m fund for businesses in sectors such as engineering and construction to train women to the equivalent of two A-levels in vocational skills.

The Train to Gain Level 3 pilot will be rolled-out in London, offering businesses free and impartial advice and funding to deliver training at a time and place to suit them, allowing women to train on the job.

According to the Women and Work Commission Report released last year, the UK economy could benefit by between £15bn and £23bn each year if gender segregation in the workplace is tackled. The LSC are using the investment to target sectors including business and finance, manufacturing, transport, logistics, ICT and management, as well as engineering.
The LSC said that at present, women represent just 16 per cent of managers and senior officials in full-time jobs, so one of the aims of the pilot is to get more women who work in these industries to train to a higher level so that they can take up more senior positions.