Women in dairy call for more awareness of range of roles available

Holly Ferguson and Laura Shrewbridge Carter were part of the Digital Dairy Chain team that promoted the project's work at the Holyrood reception

Scottish women working in the dairy sector have called for more awareness as to the range of roles and careers available within the industry.

Women working to transform the dairy sector joined an International Women’s Day event to discuss the theme ‘break the bias’ at Holyrood.

The Digital Dairy Chain, led by Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC), invited women from the industry to attend the annual Scottish Women’s Convention Parliamentary Reception to promote their work.

One of the project's aims is to create more opportunities and access points for women to enter the dairy sector.

The £21 million project also offers individuals involved in the dairy supply chain a range of services to support innovation and productivity through collaboration.

However, Pauline Murray, project manager, said that for the industry to be appealing to new entrants, its range of roles and careers needed to be better showcased.

She said: “One of the Digital Dairy Chain’s aims is to create more opportunities for women to enter the dairy sector.

“We invited 19 women working as researchers, project managers, ice-cream producers, farmers and policy advisers to the Scottish parliament to demonstrate the breadth of existing skills and the important role women play in this sector.

“We want to help break down the barriers to participation by raising awareness of the support and opportunities projects such as the Digital Dairy Chain are offering women.”

Toni Bruce, responsible sourcing specialist at First Milk – one of the Digital Dairy Chain partners - said the co-op was keen to encourage more women into the industry.

"The dairy industry has traditionally been male dominated but women have a vital role to play across the sector," she said.

“We are keen to celebrate the amazing contribution that women make every day on dairy farms and throughout the dairy supply chain.

“At First Milk, we have a well-established Women in Agriculture group, and we are delighted that participants from this were able to join the event at Holyrood to celebrate International Women’s Day.”