STUDENT VOICE AUTUMN 2016 | Page 27

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. 27