Engagement Team in Action: Teesside Residential reflections

Written by Owen McAteer (Sector Engagement Lead – North East) 

It has been a busy summer for North East engagement. In partnership with Teesside University, we welcomed Year 12 students from across the country to Middlesbrough in July for the Women in Engineering Residential. 

The 2026 residential saw a 64% increase in student attendance compared with 2025, with 43% of attendees coming from areas with the lowest levels of progression to higher education. 

Across several days on campus, the 23 students took part in hands-on workshops across a range of engineering disciplines, connected with women working in the sector and heard inspiring stories about their career journeys. 

The residential also had a positive impact on how students viewed their future. Following the event, attendees reported feeling more informed and confident, with university seen as a more realistic option. Students also reported greater confidence in their ability to succeed and a stronger sense of belonging in the engineering sector, with both measures showing a statistically significant increase between the start and end of the residential. 

It is another example of Enginuity’s close working relationship with Teesside University. Through The Steph McGovern Women in Engineering Scholarship, Enginuity provides targeted financial and professional support to eligible first-year, full-time female Engineering students at Teesside University, helping to remove barriers and support talented candidates into engineering. 

Watch the Women in Engineering Residential highlights video

Supporting skills and opportunity across the North East 

In July, Enginuity also participated in sessions at Northumbrian Water’s 10th Innovation Festival at Newcastle Racecourse. We were involved in the ‘One Assessment, Many Doors’ session, sponsored by the North East Mayoral Strategic Authority and New College Durham. 

The three-day session brought together expertise from organisations and partner businesses across the region to develop collaborative initiatives aimed at improving access and mobility for early talent, particularly young people who are not in education, employment or training (NEET). 

There was also an opportunity to engage further with the region’s growing space sector at the Space North East England Cascade and Networking Event, held at NETPark near Sedgefield, County Durham, in August. 

Many thanks to Lisa Mullen and Fay Gibson at Space North East England for making us so welcome. 

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