For the third stop on our #MonsterConfidence tour 2018, we headed up north to Manchester. The Federation provided the perfect setting for one of our most successful events of the year.
Clare Sudberry (Lead Consultant Developer, ThoughtWorks) and Ffion Turner (Business Intelligence Board Director, MediaCom) delivered keynote speeches that empowered everyone who attended and showed the young women the range of possibilities STEM offers. ThoughtWorks, GCHQ, PwC and MediaCom partnered with us for this event – MediaCom even sourced 170 pies for lunch! 140 girls and young women joined in with a range of activities including mock interviews, speed networking, mentoring and a workshop on confidence. Our panel of industry experts included:
- Chrissie Auton, Thoughtworks
- Kiran Phagura, PwC
- Preety Marwaha, MediaCom
- Emily Cotter, InnovateHer
Check out some tweets from the day below:
Our Year 10 students are on the platform waiting to depart for the Women in STEM event today! Have a great day girls! #MonsterConfidence pic.twitter.com/fyXch39z5h
— Sharples (@SharplesSchool) November 9, 2018
Loving Stem Monster confidence so far!!!!! #MonsterConfidence @Stemettes @BarnsleyAcademy @Barnsley pic.twitter.com/O0dPKoT3Ym
— Yolanda Moyo (@Yolanda_moyo1) November 9, 2018
First @LEGO_Education duck made! @Stemettes #monsterconfidence can’t wait to hear from @PwC_UK_Careers @gchq key note speakers #inspiring pic.twitter.com/31esEVJZ9m
— Rachel.Beddoes (@GirlsCount_2) November 9, 2018
The mornings keynote is from @ClareSudbery, talking about her journey, how she got into tech ams her approach to embracing change & continuous learning @Stemettes #MonsterConfidence #thoughtworks @FederationMCR pic.twitter.com/jdbzHntwrf
— Amy Lynch (@Amy_Lynch) November 9, 2018
The girls taking part in mock interviews with STEM industry volunteers to boost their confidence and skills in preparation for the real thing @Stemettes @Monster_UK #monsterconfidence pic.twitter.com/iOLngDc53h
— CMA Science (@CMA_science) November 9, 2018
In terms of impact…
- 100% had increased awareness of STEM careers
- 100% had increased positive perception of STEM careers
- 98% had their STEM confidence increased
- 96% had their STEM networks increased
When asked what the best thing they learnt from the day was, one girl answered “what it might be like in an interview and how to answer the questions effectively”. Another girl had a message for all our volunteers and partners: “Thank you for making me feel more like a professional who loves their job and less of an impostor”.

Thank you to our host The Federation, partners GCHQ, PwC and Thoughtworks, as well as our prize partner MediaCom! A special thanks to Monster for making the whole tour possible. For more details about the tour, visit monsterconfidence.co.uk
Head to our Flickr for more pics from the event!