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NEWS & INSIGHTS | Opinion

Nurturing local talent for global opportunities

16 August 2019
Written by Nicola McIntosh

As the academic holidays near an end, Nicola McIntosh, Finance and Commercial Director, reflects on a summer of new connections…

“Supporting young adults and giving them exposure to the workplace is crucial in developing the workforce of the future. The summer holidays are a perfect time for young adults to gain valuable work experience, allowing them to immerse themselves in the business world – taking part in valuable projects and research – without interfering with academic studies.

“Despite being a small organisation, the OGTC are proud to set the bar high, having extended our team by hosting 10 young adults this summer alone. Our commitment to inspiring the next generation of talent is core to our values, and is a mutually beneficial journey. Key to this is highlighting the huge variety of career choices that are available in the oil and gas industry.

“Oil and Gas employment is set to grow by a whooping 25,000 additional people who will be required by 2025 (Opito’s 2019 Skills Landscape report) – this is something we need to harness by inspiring career aspirations in the next generation of oil and gas talent, and importantly ensuring we retain this world-class asset in Aberdeen City and Shire to support the industry.”

Martha Sheal, who joined the finance team on work experience this week, concludes her experience with her insight into the importance of a career in STEM, gender balance and how to inspire young adults in the region:

“Attending an all-girls school, I am very aware of the efforts made to encourage women into STEM occupations due to underrepresentation. This is one of the many reasons I chose to do my work experience at the OGTC – to understand the varying roles of women in industry and the steps being taken to ensure proportionate representation by gender within companies. While I feel encouraged and supported into a career of any nature, including STEM, the statistics show that number of women in STEM industry is still behind by a large margin. At the OGTC, it is clear that the encouragement of ‘Female-led start-ups’ is key to the development of the company, I learnt about the TechX team, with their projects focussed on encouraging women to become leaders of technology-based companies. However, to truly bridge the gender-gap in STEM careers, I believe the focus needs to start at school. Female STEM leaders speaking to schools and making a female leader a more recognised fit in that position will help the aspirations of young girls interested in STEM feel achievable. More companies, such as OGTC, with women in CEO and leadership positions will show that a successful career in STEM is not limited to men, and collaboration of as many types of people as possible is key to the success of a STEM company. As I look to my future, I plan to develop my interest in maths and build a career based around that, I look forward to the development of women in STEM, as the gender ratio becomes even and companies such as OGTC prove that a career in STEM as a woman is accessible, achievable, and fun.”

Nicola concludes:

“We were delighted to host Martha this week – her insight and impact on the team has been refreshing. We hope she shares the experience with her peers and inspires them to pursue varied work experience opportunities within the industry and beyond.”

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