International Women’s Day 2024: Nicola Taylor, Chief Operations Officer

为了2024年国际妇女节, we’re featuring some of the hardworking and talented women behind the scenes at ScotlandIS.

Read the below interview to find out more about Nicola Taylor, our Chief Operations Officer.

描述一下你在博天堂入口大学的角色.

I have been with the organisation for almost 15 years, originally starting in a part-time role working on our e-Placement博天堂入口 programme. 在过去的四五年里, I moved to full-time hours taking on the project management of various skills initiatives, as well as becoming responsible for other aspects of the business, and was eventually promoted to Head of Operations and more recently, 首席运营官.

Can you tell us more about your background and how you ended up in this role?

这是一个合适的地方, right time for me; I worked with a colleague in a previous role who was working with ScotlandIS and suggested myself for the part-time opportunity at the time. I had worked in a couple of sectors prior to joining ScotlandIS – construction and oil and gas to name a few – but I truly found my passion in the tech sector and I think that is evidenced by my length of service with ScotlandIS.

你在STEM领域的工作最好的部分是什么?

我喜欢我的角色所提供的多样性. One minute I am supporting growth opportunities for organisations, 下一个, I am in a classroom teaching children how to use a microbit or the importance of password security or about their digital footprint. 我开始与工业界合作, 学术界, 创新中心, 公共部门, and the most fantastic companies doing the most incredible things. My role genuinely means that no two days are the same so it’s always interesting and exciting, and I don’t think it’s something I will ever get bored of doing. I have been with ScotlandIS long enough to experience a number of full circle moments and it will never not be the best feeling to have an employer come to us to use the e-Placement博天堂入口 scheme to hire interns because they were once an intern through the programme themselves.

What has been your experience as a Woman in STEM?

I have never not felt supported or out of place as a Woman in STEM. There is still more to be done to encourage more women into the sector, but I think we are lucky to work in a sector that recognises this. 变化是渐进的，但我们每天都能看到, and most recently we have witnessed it with 10 out of the 14 ScotlandIS Saturday Schools Scholars being young women.

What are some of the biggest challenges you see in the sector for diversity?

人才 attraction and the skills shortage are a huge factor here, I believe our sector to be striving to achieve diversity in the workforce, but it is almost impossible to get the diversity balance correct when we just don’t have enough skilled people coming into the sector.

Why do you think it’s important that we have greater gender diversity?

它不仅重要, but crucial for a number of reasons: without diversity in the sector, 我们扼杀了创新和创造力, 我们降低了解决问题的能力. The need for diversity in the sector is imperative to its continued growth. 

Is there a Woman in STEM that is an inspirational or influential figure to you?

I am fortunate to be surrounded by inspirational and influential Women in STEM all day, every day; I find this question difficult to answer as I honestly think every single woman I have come across in my time here has inspired or influenced me in some way shape or form.

It would be remiss of me not to name Polly Purvis, 在我们的行业是一个强大的, 当然还有Karen Meechan, 我们的首席执行官, who has been my mentor since joining the organisation – I have loved experiencing her journey to CEO and watch her flourish in that role. I could quite literally write pages and pages and pages of names here, but I will finish with the wonderful team at ScotlandIS who also inspire and influence me every day: Joanne Mills, 猫布莱尔, 贝芙·鲍尔斯, 菲奥娜•汤姆森, Hez摩尔, 尼古拉·杰克逊和, 更不用说, 最好的盟友, 罗斯·默里和大卫·弗格森.

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