Southern Vectis has announced the launch of an exciting new campaign to attract and recruit women drivers across its bus operations on the Isle of Wight. With the ‘Go-Ahead Women’ initiative, Southern Vectis is embarking on a mission with the Go-Ahead Group and all its bus companies, to achieve 50% gender equality by 2035, marking a significant step in the traditionally male-dominated transport sector. Recognising the need for greater representation, Go-Ahead is also investing £8 million in upgrading bus depot facilities which includes work to create inclusive working environments where women colleagues have opportunities, feel supported and empowered to thrive. According to recent data from Women in Bus and Coach, women make up 10% of the workforce in the bus industry. At present, 11.5% of bus driver roles are occupied by women within Go-Ahead’s bus companies and the group is outlining its commitment on International Women’s Day to bridge this gender gap to achieve true gender diversity by 2035. In addition to the recruitment drive, new hires will benefit from a comprehensive 8-week fully paid training program, designed to equip them with the skills and confidence needed to excel in their roles. This initiative underscores Go-Ahead’s commitment to lead the industry in nurturing talent and providing equal opportunities for career advancement.
Matt Carney, Bus CEO for Go-Ahead said: “Gender equality isn’t just a goal – it’s a commitment to building a better future for all. By setting an ambitious target to achieve 50% gender parity by 2035 and investing £8 million to support women drivers in their work environment, we are taking decisive steps to create a more inclusive and equitable workplace.”
Carolyn Ferguson, chief people officer for the Go-Ahead Group said:
“We firmly believe that diversity drives innovation and success. We’re investing in training and development opportunities for women drivers, and by doing this we’re not only enriching our workforce but also paving the way for a more sustainable and inclusive future.”
Andrew Wickham, Southern Vectis managing director, added:
“In the past, our industry has been largely dominated by men, but that is fast changing, as we look to recruit the very best talent regardless of gender. “Those wishing to join our team can choose from a wide range of roles – from driver to marketing or engineering – and each offers its own mix of challenges and rewards.”
Anyone interested in being a bus driver can view Go-Ahead’s vacancies across the UK here.
More politically correct garbage from Southern Vectis. Surely, a job as important as a public transport vehicle driver requires the best person for the job, not some second rate person just to make up gender numbers. Gender should not come into it at all. Just another reason why to avoid SV buses.
I take great delight in pointing out that male drivers are 3 and a half times more likely to cause fatal accidents. In terms of best people for the job I guarantee no second rate driver is ever given a PCV licence as no bus company carries liabilities, not even for levelling up gender disparity. Gender should not have to come into it, but all the while attitudes like yours exist, it has to. This ^^ is simply inviting more women to apply, and indicating that we will not be sneered at within the selection process.
really karen -please provide the link to an official statistical statement that backs up your claim of male drivers 3.5 times more likely to cause fatal accidents. – claims without supporting evidence count for nothing.
Here you go. Are you not capable of researching for yourself then? Shame, makes you look like an idiot. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/oct/09/male-drivers-three-times-more-likely-road-collisions-pedestrians
karen – try this for a differing opinion, which uses a bigger date range, than the carefully picked range by the guardian.
According to researchers at the University of Michigan, who analyzed 6.5 million car crashes in the United States between 1998 and 2007, women drivers were found to be involved in 68.1% of all crashes. Interestingly, the researchers also found that men were driving 60% of the time overall, while women were only driving 40% of the time. In other words, despite women driving less often, they were more frequently the ones causing accidents.
https://www.malmanlaw.com/malman-law-injury-blog/who-causes-more-car-accidents-men-or-women/
.
karen – your statement doesn’t match that carefully, cherry picked date range does it. In your first outlandish claim, you simply stated – men are 3.5 times more likely to cause fatal accidents. No date range. That article in the guardian uses the date range of 2020 to mid 2021 as the data set.and of course you forgot this little gem from the article…The figures – which exclude cases where the sex of the driver was not known or recorded…in other words, the entire guardian article is flawed and unreliable as it does not provide a fully accurate picture – then again, it is the guardian, so what do you expect.I cannot believe you actually rely on the guardian as your source of knowledge – what a joke
You clearly don’t understand my post. I have nothing whatsoever against women drivers or women anything. The point I was making (which incidentally you agreed with!) is that gender should not come into the equation at all. The job should go to the most suitable candidate, be they male or female. This idea of gender parity in terms of numbers is just so much bs.
Read the post again, the best people regardless of gender
No, it’s really not, especially where historic attitudes exist that men would be ‘better’ in roles and therefore there is an automatic bias of candidates. I would concede however that in terms of strength occupations (firefighting springs to mind) that parity could be an issue.
Evidence of that statistical claim please Karen?
See above.
Well said Karen. But logic, facts and common sense have no place in Paul’s fear and threat mindset, sadly. Happily, many intelligent, balanced men do not agree with him.
The more female drivers them more danger the on the roads
twat bgg twat.. twat was short an imput..twat
King by name but Cretin by nature.
Carolyn Ferguson, chief people officer for the Go-Ahead Group said “We firmly believe that diversity drives innovation and success”
no it doesn’t –
firstly, the only way they will ever achieve that is by actively discriminating against suitably qualified male candidates.
secondly – female candidates are likely to feel that they only got the job because of the tick box exercise.
thirdly – diversity means discrimination against one group over another.
Those that promote this woke drivel end up with mediocre results
Nowadays it’s not just about the driving. It’s about dealing with the drunks, druggies, and aggressive customers. Hope all new recruits (male and female) are made aware of this.
Pretty sure that a male has a greater chance of sorting out some sort of order in the likely event that a confrontation/dispute happens on the bus. Same goes for a classroom full of uncontrollable minors – male presence makes a world of difference in these situations. Not saying that males do not get trampled on, just less likely than their female counterparts.
Same applies with the Police.
Men are stronger.
You need to pay a decent living wage first.
im sure they do with all the benifits to go with it..
Most of the bus drivers I see are females.
dont do it ladies.been lots of physical assaults on female drivers recently and the company do nothing but ignore it.my niece recently left that vile company
Can we have some trans and non binary and some they and them..
Just pick the best person for the job regardless of sex or race.
It matters not one bit what gender, race, colour etc they are.
Just employ the best people you can. No-one cares whether the bus driver is male, female, or whatever they might like to describe themselves as. Passengers just want to get from A to B safely and on time, that’s all.
Ticking boxes and filling quotas is an irrelevance.
Educate yourself about equality, would you? The world and workforce is not a level playing field. Some sectors need assistance to reach the same goal and be equally valued.
why don’t you spend time ranting at the chinese government for lack of diversity in their party – no whites/blacks or hispanics. Why don’t you spend time ranting at african governments lack of diversity – no whites/asians in their governments – just all black
no you won’t will you -you would rather virtue signal here with fake outrage at a society which is far more open and transparent and welcoming than any where else in the world – why – because you don’t feel safe having a go at the chinese/africans, because they will likely beat you to death to shut you up
Discussing behaviour by SV.
Applicants should be judged on how well they can drive a bus, not their gender.
Would I be allowed to get the job if I said I was a woman.?
Look at their web site, not recruiting at the moment. They want to make up their minds!!
Have you not seen the way the women bus drivers are driving
the buses!
Yes and I was deeply impressed. The best Island bus drivers are usually the women, in my experience. And they’re friendly and cheerful.
Most shops, pubs and clubs on the Island have posted notices to the effect that they will protect their staff from abusive customers. Go south coast have always refused to post such notices.
I wonder if the extra 8 million they are investing will be added to people’s bus fares? All this cultural Marxist ideology doesn’t come cheap (for those on the receiving end of it of course, not its perpetrators)
I thought that article would bring the saddo misogynists and incels out of the undergrowth.
Wasn’t disappointed.