Nuclear offers fantastic career opportunities to those in the industry. Despite this, there is an ever-growing skills shortage creating challenges right through the industry, which is only further exacerbated by the lack of diversity within the industry’s workforce.

Sadly, the UK nuclear industry has a very poor past reputation for diversity in its workforce, particularly in the employment of women. The industry has also suffered from not keeping up with other sectors by addressing the issue sooner to make itself a more attractive working environment to appeal to the best talent.

There are only benefits to be had from being a diverse and inclusive industry free of bias, stereotypes, and discrimination. We have seen a shift in the mindset empowering women to achieve their aspirations. More and more women are becoming comfortable knowing they can pick any career they want and that the barriers and outdated stereotypes are slowly but surely disappearing.

As an industry we must work to take advantage of this shift in mindset to make our workspaces more appealing to attract the talent and skills we desperately need.  

We have taken International Women’s Day as an opportunity to shine a light on some of the women in JFN. Their experiences and guidance are fundamental to achieving our goals, they should serve as an inspiring reminder of how much more we will accomplish as a truly inclusive industry.

Grace McCrickard

Senior Electrical Technician

Grace started her apprenticeship with JFN in 2017 and has since worked hard towards gaining her Higher National Certificate (HNC) in Electrical Engineering. In her short time within the nuclear industry Grace has gone onto achieve remarkable things. Grace received a personal invite from the CEO of City and Guilds to attend the Princess Royal Training Award Ceremony as a VIP and most recently has been selected as a finalist for the National Skills Academy for Nuclear (NSAN) Awards Advanced Apprentice Award.

“The opportunities I have been given throughout my five years of being at JFN have been outstanding and I have worked hard to achieve them all to the best of my ability. I feel as though my knowledge, understanding and skills have progressed enormously, something I never imagined would happen in such a short period of time!”

Lynn Crewdson

EHSSQ Coordinator

“As an EHSSQ Coordinator I coordinate the documentation within the company's Information Management System and support the wider EHSSQ team in performing their roles. I became more interested in EHSSQ topics and their impact on the workforce/environment and the nuclear industry offered new and exciting opportunities to explore this. Women have a growing presence in the industry, but there's still a long way to go. Luckily my experience has been nothing but positive and my advice is if you are interested in joining JFN would be to go for it!”

Harley Greene

Bid Manager

“Women are underrepresented in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) fields in general and particularly in the Nuclear Industry. Don’t be scared to be the only woman at the table and challenge the mindset that being a woman in a traditionally masculine field is an obstacle. Start viewing it as an advantage.”