The women’s advocacy group Rise, which operates in AV’s peer broadcast industry, has announced the launch of the Rise Up UTC Mentoring Programme, its first mentoring programme for young women aged 16 to 18 years in partnership with five University Technical Colleges (UTCs).
The programme, which is government funded and will focus on STEM subjects, is set to support a total of 23 young women by providing a “range of technical and support-orientated initiatives, including training programmes and industry networking with virtual and face-to-face mentoring”.
Kate Ambrosi, assistant director of education at the Baker Dearing Educational Trust, explained, “Baker Dearing and the UTCs are really excited to be working with Rise to offer mentoring to our aspirational young women who are preparing for a career in the broadcast media industry. Mentoring from these amazing industry professionals will give them the insight and support that they need to achieve their goals and make their mark across the sector.”
The programme is receiving additional funding and support from BT Sport and ITV, with the aim of encouraging young women into the broadcast media technology sector at an earlier point in their academic careers. Andy Beale, head of engineering and innovation, BT Sport, said: “The drive toward greater diversity and inclusion in our industry is a fundamental objective of BT Sport and is a key pillar of BT Sport United, our bid to use our reach to be advocates for positive social change, in sport and in society. Today’s announcement builds on the successful launch of the BT Sport-backed Rise Up schools programme last year and we are proud to be working with Rise to extend the reach of this programme to inspire and educate girls in key stage 5 about opportunities in the broadcast industry. Rise Up is one of a number of ongoing BT Sport United initiatives in this area, such as our BT Sport Takeover and School 21 work, both of which provide more opportunity to local youngsters.”
Carrie Wootten, managing director of Rise, added: “We are excited to be partnering with University Technical Colleges as we embark on this new mentoring series, supporting young women as they take their next step towards building a career in the media technology sector. I would like to thank BT Sport and ITV for their incredible support and generosity which has enabled us to launch this new UTC mentoring scheme this year.”
Wooten was recently recognised in TVBEurope’s Watch List for the work that Rise is doing in both creating a level playing field for women in the broadcast technology sector, but also in developing initiatives, such as this, to help encourage the next generation of diverse engineers and technicians into the industry.
