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Women in Defence

Janet Rowe headshot

Janet Rowe, Lincad’s Joint Managing Director continues to champion more women working at all levels across the UK defence industry.

Are we seeing more job opportunities for women in the UK defence industry?
Yes, I believe we are seeing more women at all levels of management across the UK defence sector but we still have some way to go. Equality will not happen by chance. We all need to work together to inspire, challenge and develop and build a better working environment for both genders to work and thrive. There is still a long way to go to reach gender equality.

How can we encourage more women to work in the UK defence industry?
It all starts with education, with STEM subjects. If we can encourage more young girls at school to consider careers such as engineering – that will help progression into jobs in the defence sector. Also, internships are a fantastic way for students to see the vast number of exciting jobs within the defence sector.  Here at Lincad, for a number of years now we have run a placement scheme partnering with our local university.

Do role models help to encourage more women into defence?
There are so many inspiring women in the field of defence, yet so often they are overlooked.  In the last few years, several  networking groups have formed, especially on social media such as Women In Defence UK which hosts yearly awards to promote the value of women in defence and celebrates the incredible work of women in our sector. I attend and support a number of these networking group events.

How will the Prime Minister’s investment injection of £16.5 billion into the UK’s Armed Forces help more women into Defence jobs?
The funds will help to modernise the Armed Forces and will in turn stimulate thousands of highly skilled jobs across the UK. A radical program of innovation and modernisation will create circa 10,000 jobs a year, and support thousands more livelihoods. I sincerely hope a number of these positions will be taken up by women, bolstering female participation in the military. 

How can we build back better?
It’s no secret that the defence industry has more men than women, particularly in senior positions. Things are changing. After coronavirus, we must ‘build back better’. More and more organisations, companies and the Armed Forces understand the need to increase the number of females working in defence because of the benefit of added diversity of thought.

At Lincad we are committed to promoting equality in all aspects of our work and we continue to employ women across our defence battery business.

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