Rygor Group launched its Women in Automotive Journal, an initiative designed to inspire, inform and empower women and girls to pursue careers within the automotive industry, through the sharing of stories from women across the sector.
The initiative brings together women from different businesses and organisations across the industry, including dealerships, EV, marketing, and charities.
Through conversations and personal reflections, contributors share what first attracted them to automotive, the challenges they have overcome, and the successes they are most proud of.
Kate Ruberry-Shoemack, director of people and communication at Rygor Group, said: “When you ask women in the industry how they came to work in automotive, the response I hear time and time again is ‘I fell into it’.
“In fact, in research carried out within Rygor, nearly 65% of the women surveyed said that had little to no awareness of, or exposure to career opportunities in the sector.
“Yet, anecdotally, speaking with the incredible women who work in our industry, they love it and feel fulfilled by their career.
“This spoke volumes to me, and highlighted the need to create better awareness to women and girls of what a career in automotive could look like and who better to tell those stories than women already succeeding in the industry?
“This is why I have wanted to put this journal together for so long, because the more we can do to highlight the women in the industry, the more likely we will see a greater number of women join the sector.
“In fact, our in-house research showed that lack of awareness of the industry, lack of female representation in marketing and job adverts and the need for role models is what our female team members said they believed would encourage more women to the sector.
“When we can showcase the reality and opportunity of the automotive sector for women, we know it works as between 2023 and 2024 across Rygor Group, we saw a 64% increase in job applicants who identified as female”
The publication also features advice from women across Rygor Group and partner organisations, including automotive charity Ben.
Readers will find guidance on entering and progressing within the sector, building confidence, and challenging outdated stereotypes.
Sara Sloman, chief strategy officer at Paythru, said: “This wonderful initiative by Rygor shows the importance of surrounding yourself with people who can help you to shine.
“The secret to success isn’t about avoiding a glass ceiling, it’s about smashing through it as an army of likeminded individuals all seeing the same thing – the benefits of collaboration for collective success.
“A rising tide lifts all ships – or, it should! It is an honour to be featured amongst such strong and empowering people. Thank you Rygor.”
Ruberry-Shoemack added: “If we see even just one more woman join the automotive industry off the back of our collective efforts, then this will be a successful initiative.”
