Government criticised over failure to tackle apprentice gender gaps

The Government has been criticised for its failure to address the gender gap in apprenticeships after it emerged fewer than 1% of apprentices are women.

Figures released by Solas, the further education and training authority, reveal among the 9,587 people in apprenticeships to date in 2016, just 52 are female.

Women account for seven of the 2,093 existing apprentices in the construction sector, 17 of the 3,699 in the electrical sector, none of the 1,528 in the engineering sector, five of the 2,192 in the motoring sector, and two of the 21 in the printing sector.