Women outnumber men on the Boat Building Academy’s flagship 40-week course for the first time in its 28-year history.
The newest student cohort at the Boat Building Academy (BBA) in Lyme Regis, Dorset comprises eight women and seven men. The most women enrolled previously was four – and for two years there were no female students at all.
Diversity in boat building has long been a concern, and the rise in female applicants at the BBA is the result of a far-reaching, new Diversity and Inclusivity mission, launched just over a year ago by the BBA and Belinda Joslin, founder of Women in Boatbuilding (WIBB). The multi-faceted strategy puts diversity at the heart of the Academy’s priorities – from the top down – and includes practical and financial support.
A five-day Women’s Workshop course now runs annually for women to try their hand at woodworking, before committing to further study.
While a new bursary scheme exclusively for women is making it possible for a growing number of women to meet the cost of the course and access the high-level training and career development opportunities it provides. In addition, WIBB members already working in the industry are also actively mentoring female BBA students.
The cohort started the course ‘upstairs’ at the BBA, learning the skills which eventually enables them to move ‘downstairs’ and begin the long and challenging process of building four wooden boats from scratch. These boats will be proudly launched, in line with tradition, into Lyme Regis harbour next June.
Belinda Joslin of Women in Boatbuilding said: “The BBA is an amazingly inclusive and welcoming environment for women, so we’re delighted to have helped more women to feel that it’s a space they belong in and are welcome in. This success story is proof that the DEI strategy worked and we hope the wider industry will learn from the measures that BBA have taken, and put more of a priority on DEI to tackle the skills shortage in boatbuilding nationwide.”
BBA Director Will Reed agreed: “It’s deeply encouraging to see so many talented women on the course. We have an exciting strategy in place to further promote diversity and inclusion in the industry and look forward to seeing these and many more young women go on to exciting careers in boat building.”
Read more about the Boat Building Academy, one of our Shipshape Network South West projects.
Source: Boat Building Academy website
Photo: Current cohort of flagship Boat Building course, copyright BBA
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