A 17-year-old has become McLaren Automotive’s chief executive officer for the day to celebrate International Day of the Girl.
Maisy, from Wales, took over from McLaren Automotive CEO Mike Flewitt as part of the Woking-based firm’s long-term partnership with global children’s rights charity Plan International, and as a way to encourage young people – particularly young women – into science and engineering careers.
It comes as a survey of 1,000 11-18-year-old girls in the UK conducted by Plan International shows that one in four have wanted to try out a science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) subject but have either been told that it’s for boys or were worried about being negatively judged. Many were also unsure about pursuing the subjects as they’d only seen boys doing it in the media.
The research also showed that close to half of girls have heard through the media, friends or family that ‘girls are not good at STEM’.