Mid and West Wales Assembly Member Eluned Morgan joined girls from Greenhill School, Ysgol Bro Gwaun, Tasker Milward VC School, Milford Haven School and Ysgol Dewi Sant at Llanelli’s Parc y Scarlets to draw attention to tackling gender inequality in traditionally male-dominated industries.

Only 220 female students over the age of 16, out of a cohort of 38,000 (0.6 per cent), opted to study engineering in Wales in 2015, and only 65 (0.2 per cent) chose to study for construction industry qualifications.

‘Tackling Gender Inequality’, a two-day programme taking place at Parc y Scarlets and Pembrokeshire College with support from Valero Pembroke Refinery and the Engineering Construction Industry Training Board, aimed to encourage Year 8 female pupils to kick off their interest in a career in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) subjects.

Girls from Pembrokeshire and Carmarthenshire enjoyed a training session with Scarlets players to discover what it takes to succeed as part of a team and to thrive in a male-dominated environment.

Raising the issue in the Senedd, Eluned Morgan said: “Choosing the right subjects to study will make a huge difference to the enjoyment of children in school, but also we need to be encouraging people to study subjects that will lead to good and rewarding jobs.

“Girls in particular are massively under-represented in studying STEM subjects that lead to engineering qualifications.”

The Labour AM added: “How can we further capture the imagination of, in particular, 12 and 13-year-old girls to ensure that they study STEM subjects, not just at GCSE level, but at A-level and at apprenticeship level?”

Eluned Morgan went on to ask the Welsh Education Secretary to ensure that more women engineers are invited into schools to provide role models for girls in these important subjects.