First female to win a Microsoft Apprentice of the Year award
Firebrand apprentice, Kimberley Bolton, made history recently by becoming the first female to win a Microsoft Apprentice of the Year award in the Medium Business Category. Kimberley's achievement is another important step towards addressing the gender imbalance, where women make up less than 16% of the IT industry workforce.
Firebrand apprentice, Kimberley Bolton, is blazing a trail for all young women currently considering a career in IT. The 19 year old from Maidenhead, made history after becoming the first woman to win a Microsoft Apprentice of the Year award. It is an important milestone in an industry where women make up less than 16% of the workforce.
Kimberley was chosen from 1,000s of apprentices on the Microsoft program to win in the ‘Medium Business Category’. Working as a Junior Support Consultant for Pythagoras, she was nominated by her employers in recognition of her positive attitude and hard work. After winning the award Kimberley said:
“Becoming an IT apprentice is the best thing I’ve ever done. I’ve gone from having no confidence and no IT knowledge to winning Microsoft Apprentice of the Year. I’ve really had to push myself, and now it’s all paid off.”
Kimberley’s achievement is a ray of light in an industry where gender remains a significant and worsening issue. A recent report by BCS estimates less than 16% of the 1.2 million working in the UK IT industry are women. This number will decline further if the downward trend of female pupils studying ICT at GCSE and A Level continues.
Firebrand Training’s UK Managing Director, Emma Seaman said:
“If we are to reverse the downward trend of young women taking an interest in IT then we must break the stereotype that ‘IT is for geeks’. Role models like Kimberley play a crucial role in breaking down this misconception and inspiring the future generation of female IT professionals.”
Attending the ceremony, Home Secretary, Theresa May shared her opinion on apprenticeships with Firebrand. Here’s what she had to say:
“Apprenticeships are incredibly important in helping young adults to develop skills in the workplace. Apprenticeships are hands-on and so much more about understanding what the working environment is all about.”
Firebrand has now helped more than 100 young people pursue a career in IT through its Apprenticeship programme.
To enquire about hiring an IT Apprentice or becoming one yourself head to - http://www.firebrandtraining.co.uk/apprenticeships
For more information contact:
Ed Jones
T: +44 (0) 844 888 1684
E: ejones@firebrandtraining.co.uk
About Firebrand Training
Firebrand is a leader in Accelerated Learning, and has training centres in the UK, DACH (Germany, Switzerland, Austria), Nordics (Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland) and Benelux (Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg).
Since its inception in 2001 the company has grown at an incredible rate with over £100 million training completed by more than 35,000 students with over 96% of our students reporting that Firebrand exceeded their expectations.
Firebrand Training runs more than 165 courses, from Microsoft Windows, Windows Server and IT support courses, through to Cisco, Oracle, Lean Six Sigma, PRINCE2, PMP, ethical hacking and Agile.
Firebrand Training has been named consecutively for four years running in the Top 20 IT Training Companies in the World by TrainingIndustry.com and has won the Institute of IT Training – Training Company Of The Year for three consecutive years. It is a Microsoft, Cisco and PMI partner, and Firebrand Training Nordics is Microsoft Learning Partner of the Year (2010, 2011 and 2012) and is the first Microsoft partner business to achieve this award three years in a row.