Closing the gender gap in engineering & technology

Closing the gender gap

[Duration 01:51 minutes]

[Audio]

Slow ambient music.

[In vision]

A young girl sits on a blue chair in front of a blackboard with mathematical equations drawn on it. She looks straight into the camera.

[Text on screen]

Two lines written in block capitals fade into the bottom of the screen sequentially. The last word of each line is highlighted in bold:

It’s time to listen

Turn on the volume

[In vision]

The young girl starts reading from a piece of paper she holds.

[Girl VO]

Those clothes don’t make you look good, are you putting on weight or something?

She only got that position because she’s a woman.

You don’t want to be an engineer, that’s a man’s job.

[In vision]

Wide shot shows the girl in a photo studio surrounded by several studio lights, softboxes and reflectors. A big camera is positioned in front of the girl and a female director is operating it.

[Audio]

Ambient music picks up a dramatic tone.

[Girl VO]

These are real things women engineers have actually heard.

[In vision]

A flare shines in on the left of the screen and moves to the middle of the screen against a black background.

[Text on screen]

Two lines written in block capitals fade in sequentially:

Over time

Gender bias [highlighted in bold]

Can push women out

of engineering & technology

[In vision]

A woman with neck long, curly, blonde hair stands in the middle of the screen. She looks straight into the camera, a serious expression on her face.

[Male VO1]

Why doesn’t your husband just let you stay home?


[In vision]
The woman’s hairstyle crossfades from curly to straight. A pair of small hoops show up on her ears. She shakes her head frustrated with what she hears.

[Male VO2]
Hey sweetie, when you got a minute, I’ll get a cup of coffee.


[In vision]
She frowns as she hears the male voice over.

[Male VO3]
Look who’s wearing earrings today...


[In vision]
The woman raises her eyebrows in disapproval.

[Male VO4]
You got promoted too?

[In vision]
The woman then morphs into a younger woman. She has shoulder-long, black hair, wears a light blue silk top and looks serious.

[Female VO1]
So we’ve only got one ladies bathroom, it’s up three flights of stairs.

[Female VO2]
Nice dress, Sarah. Good to see you making an effort.


[In vision]
The woman smiles.

[Male VO5]
File that for me - there’s a good girl.


[In vision]
The woman raises her eyebrows surprised by what she hears.

[Female VO3]
Oh great! I’m so glad there’s another woman here!


[In vision]
The woman’s hair crossfade to look like her hair is short. She has a kind and soft expression on her face.

[Male VO6]
We won’t tip-toe around you because you're a woman you know. You still have to put in the same amount of work...


[In vision]
The woman opens her mouth as to say something, then purses her lips.

[Female VO4]
So I guess you’ll be starting a family soon, ay?


[In vision]
The woman’s hair springs down to curls and she crossfades to wearing a darker blue polo T-shirt shirt. She looks serious and confused.

[Male VO7]
Hey guys, no swearing there’s a woman in the room.


[In vision]
The woman morphs into a young girl. She has long, curly black hair and wears a denim shirt.

[Female VO5]
I don’t think this University is ready for a female president.


[Male VO8]
Are you sure you’ll be able to handle this course? It’s quite advanced.


[In vision]
The girl crossfades to having short, men’s hair and wearing denim dungarees and a grey jumper.

[Male VO9]
We’ll do the more technical stuff, and you can take notes ok?

[In vision]
The girl swallows and nods uncomfortably.

[Audio]
There’s a brief silence, followed by a slow and dramatic piano tune.

[In vision]
Text fades in while the girl stands still.

[Text on screen]
The text is in block capitals and fades in sequentially:
Why is it we
encourage young girls [highlighted in bold]
but often
discourage educated women? [highlighted in bold]

[Male VO10]
This work is very strong. Have you thought about applying for the Chancellor’s Fellowship too?

[In vision]
The girl smiles, and then crossfades to wearing a light blue shirt and having long curly hair.

[Female VO6]
You're so good at math and science you have to apply to these top universities.

[In vision]
The girl crossfades to wearing a blue tie and having her hair pulled back. She nods enthusiastically.

[Male VO11]
Have you thought about a career in engineering?


[Female VO7]
I’ll help you research and we’ll put together a poster for the science fair.

[In vision]
The girl morphs into a little girl with long, curly dark hair. She wears a light blue polo T-shirt and has a big smile on her face.

[Male VO12]
Who’s my clever girl?


[In vision]
The little girl crossfades to wearing a light blue T-shirt. She’s still smiling.

[Female VO8]
Did you build that all by yourself?

[Male VO12]
That’s amazing, I’m so proud of you!

[In vision]
A quick sequence shows all the women and girls from the video morphing into one another. Each one delivers one word from three straplines. The sequence lands on the young woman.

[VO delivered by all female talent + text on screen]
Be the difference. Close the gender gap. Let’s make the future.

[Shell logo on screen]

[Audio]
The Sound of Shell

[In vision]
Wide shot of the young girl from the beginning of the film, sitting in front of the blackboard.

[Female director VO]
And what would you say, if you heard someone saying these things?

[In vision]
Close up of little girl.

[Little girl VO]
I would say… why would you say something like that?

[In vision]
Profile shot of the girl as she speaks.

[Little girl VO]
I can do whatever you can do. And if you do think that…

[In vision]
Back to the girl looking straight to camera.

[Little girl VO]
… we women will show you that we can do it.

[In vision]
Black screen with text fading in.

[Girl VO + Text on screen]
The text is written in block capitals and fades in in the centre of the screen sequentially:
Comment
below [the word is in bold]
what you [“you” is in bold]
would say.

[Audio ends]

[Text fades out]

[Black screen]