College
Scoops
Two
Wins at
Diversity
Awards
Student Association campaign
wins at inaugural Scottish
Diversity Awards
The ‘#ThisAyrshireGirlCan’
campaign kick-started by
the Ayrshire College Student
Association has been
recognised at the inaugural
Scottish Diversity Awards.
The campaign won the ‘Best
Diversity Marketing and Social
Issues Campaign’ award.
#ThisAyrshireGirlCan has been
embraced by the College and
is cemented as its overarching
strategy for encouraging and
supporting more girls and
women into STEM.
The Herald and Genanalytics
award ceremony celebrates
organisations and individuals
who are embracing diversity
in the workplace, and Ayrshire
College was the only college
to win on the night!
The campaign started as a
social media campaign and
was transformed into an
extensive marketing campaign
that includes video and
blog case studies, events
with influential female guest
speakers, and a mentoring
network for female
STEM students.
‘#ThisAyrshireGirlCan’ was the
Student Association’s flagship
campaign to encourage
more female students into
male-dominated industries
like science, technology,
engineering and maths
(STEM).
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon
MSP endorsed the campaign
on International Women’s Day
at the College’s Kilwinning
Campus where she spoke to
over 150 female school pupils
and college students.
THE STUDENT VOICE EDITION 7
Another winner at the
ceremony was Equality and
Inclusion Adviser at the
College, Sara Turkington.
Sara won the ‘Rising Star’
award in recognition of the
tremendous work she does to
raise awareness of
LGBT issues.
Sara instigated the
groundbreaking Conversation
Cafés in the College’s Ayr,
Kilmarnock and Kilwinning
campuses. The Conversation
Cafés informed the ‘Translating
LGBT+’ conference held
earlier this year which was the
first of its kind for Ayrshire.
The conference enhanced the
knowledge of professionals
working in the public and
voluntary sectors.
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