Women in Rail
Lorna Slade spoke to Adeline Ginn, founder of the Women in Rail group, about its new mentoring scheme, the benefits of having more women in the industry, and putting rail in the frame as a career option
G
inn was on a train, travelling with her CEO to a meeting about women in business, when it occurred to her that, at a time when diversity is very much on the agenda, there was no support network for women in rail, an industry that very few women join, where those that do can feel isolated, and with only a small minority in very senior positions. ‘And he challenged me and said ‘Well what are you going to do about it?’ so I said, ‘I’m going to create Women in Rail’.’
Thinking about the best way forward, Ginn chose LinkedIn as a low cost vehicle to ascertain whether there would be an appetite for such an initiative. ‘Very quickly I got some fantastic feedback from women saying it would be great to have a platform to discuss issues and meet other women in rail. And it really snowballed from there.’
Ginn’s CEO arranged meetings with MP’s Theresa Villiers and Esther McVey ‘who does a lot of work in schools’, and Ginn contacted a variety of women to see if they would join a steering committee, ‘What was important for me was that the group was a true cross-representation of the industry, and that whatever stance we were going to take would cover the fundamental issues that had to be addressed in order to bring more women into rail.’
In due course Ginn gathered a committee with representatives from Angel Trains, Bombardier Transportation UK, Clifford Chance, East Midlands Trains, Network Rail, Northern Rail and the Office of Rail Regulation, and together they brainstormed on how to improve diversity in the sector. Three core issues were identified. The first was creating a platform where
women can network with like-minded colleagues, make new friends and discuss current issues – something that took effect very quickly through LinkedIn according to Ginn: ‘We had some fantastic discussions and some quite personal conversations very quickly.’ The second was around helping and guiding women in the industry to be able to progress their careers and realise their full potential. And the third priority was to help ensure that more females join the industry at entry level by raising awareness of the benefits of working in it. Elegant and cultured, Ginn, a lawyer who joined Angel Trains in 1999, stressed that ‘Women in Rail is not here to take over. There are a lot of initiatives going on in the industry, especially trying to stimulate youngsters to have a career in rail, and it’s about us all working together rather than in isolation.’
September 2013 Page 19
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