Image: Core Media You're a good feminist, right? You give your children gender-neutral choices in the toy shop, you read them bedtime stories with excellent role models of the male and female persuasion, and you encourage sons and daughters alike to pursue their interests without pushing them into hobbies society deems appropriate depending on their chromosomal configuration. I'm sure you do.
And you might have a girly-girl for a daughter, and an uhr-boy for a son. And that's fine, if that's what they want to be. We're all about acceptance around these parts.
And you might have a girly-girl for a daughter, and an uhr-boy for a son. And that's fine, if that's what they want to be. We're all about acceptance around these parts.
But have you ever considered sitting your child - boy or girl - in front of the television on a Sunday afternoon, exposing them to motorsport? Whether it's the slick technology of Formula One or the high speed ballsiness of MotoGP, getting children interested in motorsport at an early age could pique an interest in STEM careers.
The perception is that motorsport isn't green (not strictly true...), that as a sport it's a relic from a bygone age of burning fossil fuels and dicing with death. And yes, motorsport is dangerous. And yes, a lot of it still relies on the internal combustion engine.
But given the lack of excitement in mankinds adventures in space, motorsport is currently the sexy face of the STEM world. It's a professional and competitive industry that generates around 50,000 jobs in the UK alone, and contributes between 4 billion and 5 billion pounds a year to the British economy.
The perception is that motorsport isn't green (not strictly true...), that as a sport it's a relic from a bygone age of burning fossil fuels and dicing with death. And yes, motorsport is dangerous. And yes, a lot of it still relies on the internal combustion engine.
But given the lack of excitement in mankinds adventures in space, motorsport is currently the sexy face of the STEM world. It's a professional and competitive industry that generates around 50,000 jobs in the UK alone, and contributes between 4 billion and 5 billion pounds a year to the British economy.
| As an industry, motorsport is open to women. It is a competitive environment where ability is measured in results, and as a consequence there is no glass ceiling for the successful. Leena Gade became the first female race engineer to win the 24 Heures du Mans endurance race in 2011; she repeated the feat in 2012. The Sauber Formula One team has a female team principal, Monisha Kaltenborn, while Claire Williams is deputy team principal at Williams F1. | The recent increase in women comes largely from girls who grew up watching motorsport with their fathers... |
Year by year, the F1 paddock is filling up with women. On Sundays, the grid has an ever-increasing number of female mechanics and engineers, while factories are filled with women designing components, running simulations, and conducting wind tunnel testing.
The recent increase in women comes largely from girls who grew up watching motorsport with their fathers, cheering on the likes of Damon Hill and Michael Schumacher when they were children. An early interest in motorsport turned into a stimulating career in a field with plenty of prospects. But it is a field which requires plenty of preparation - and a strong background in maths and physics.
Next time there's a race on, why not see if you can get the kids interested? A desire to get involved in racing could be just the trigger you need to get them to focus on that maths homework...
F1Kate
The recent increase in women comes largely from girls who grew up watching motorsport with their fathers, cheering on the likes of Damon Hill and Michael Schumacher when they were children. An early interest in motorsport turned into a stimulating career in a field with plenty of prospects. But it is a field which requires plenty of preparation - and a strong background in maths and physics.
Next time there's a race on, why not see if you can get the kids interested? A desire to get involved in racing could be just the trigger you need to get them to focus on that maths homework...
F1Kate
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