Govia Thameslink Railway has introduced new apprenticeship courses tailored towards female employees who wish to progress into leadership roles with the company.

The announcement is timed to coincide with International Women’s Day tomorrow, Saturday, 8th March.

The courses are designed to help develop female talent within the business and equip them to become the next generation of managers and leaders.

Level 3 and Level 5 apprenticeships are available in the Women in Leadership training programmes, which will be delivered by education provider Learnmore.

Level 3 is an entry-level course, and is a 15-month training programme for women who wish to become managers, and combines workshops with masterclasses that include project and team management, the importance of networking, developing presence and professionalism and looking beyond the glass ceiling and the imposter syndrome theory.

Level 5 is aimed at mentors who can drive future generations of leaders in the company.

It covers the same topics as Level 3 but demands a higher standard of evidence when the candidates are assessed at the end of their course.

Other new courses being launched include a Level 7 Senior Leadership training course and a Level 4 Data Analyst course, to bring the number of available apprenticeship courses to a total of almost 20.

Railway companies are still largely dominated by men, with women accounting for just over 17% of the total workforce, although at Govia Thameslink Railway around 20% of the workforce is women. In 2023, there was a 50% increase over 2022 in the number of female employees taking up apprenticeships with the company.

To demonstrate what can be achieved, the company has published two case studies. Lily Scott is a member of Govia Thameslink Railways Infrastructure team and is preparing to start her third apprenticeship.

Elba Lovelace-Francis joined the company after being out of work for 18 months and recently qualified as a train driver after completing her apprenticeship.

To coincide with last year’s International Women’s Day, Govia Thameslink Railway announced it had recruited five new female train drivers.

“We’re really proud that the number of females working at GTR is above the industry average, however we’d like the numbers to be even higher. Whilst we’re working hard to make the railway a more attractive industry to women, we’re also passionate about enhancing the talent that’s already with us. We know that in a traditionally male-dominated environment, it can be hard for women to find the right opportunities to develop their skills, which is why we’ve decided to launch these two new tailored courses. Our hope is that females across the business relish the opportunity to learn vital leadership skills and that over time, we’ll see more people climbing the career ladder as a result.”

Zoey Hudson, Head of Development, Learning and Inclusion at Govia Thameslink Railway