Figures for female apprenticeships are ‘disappointing,’ says MSP
By Lucy Ashton
The number of women and girls completing apprenticeships in Scotland has fallen in the last four years, new analysis from Scottish Labour reveals.
Just under 8,000 women completed apprenticeships in 2017/18. This was the lowest level since 2011/12 when the data series commenced.
In West Dunbartonshire there has been a drop in female apprenticeships from 226 in 2013/14 to 172 in 2017/18. Similarly, in Argyll and Bute there has been a drop of 140 in 2011/12 to 106 in 2017/18.
Female apprentices completing their training has fallen by 11 per cent in the last four years. In 2013-14 just under 9,000 women and girls completed an apprenticeship in Scotland. The figures for the last financial year, 2017-18, show there has been a fall of over 1,000 to just under 8,000.
On top of the overall figure for Scotland, 20 of Scotland’s 32 local authorities have seen a fall in female apprenticeship achievements in the last year.
MSP Jackie Baillie said: “These figures are really disappointing. We should all be fighting to ensure that women are enjoying equal opportunities in every line of work. This fall of 11% in the last four years shows that far more needs to be done for us to achieve this.
“It is vital that we see an increase in investment for female apprentices, especially in the currently heavily male dominated fields.
“I am calling for the government to take action in light of these new figures, and a refocused attempt to achieve genuine gender equality in Scotland’s work force.”