GE Saudi’s female employees lead first STEM Mentoring program for King Saud University students

In a first of its kind initiative aimed at nurturing young Saudi female talents, the female employees of GE (NYSE: GE) in Saudi Arabia hosted a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) Mentoring Program for eight female students of the King Saud University.

The 12-week mentoring program held at the premises and sites of GE in the Kingdom was attended by female students who are majoring in STEM-related degree courses, and specially focused on the skills they need to pursue rewarding careers.

In addition to supporting the goals of Saudi Vision 2030 to empower Saudi female talent and create high-quality job opportunities for youth, the program is aligned with the ‘Balance the Equation’ initiative of GE to hire 20,000 women in STEM-related careers and achieve 50:50 female-male representation by 2020.

Hisham Albahkali, President & CEO, GE Saudi Arabia & Bahrain, said: “By partnering with leading universities and academic institutions over the past years, we have consistently focused on nurturing the skills and talents of young Saudis through workshops and training initiatives. This underpins our commitment to invest in next generation talent in line with Saudi Vision 2030.”

“With the STEM Mentoring program, we are taking this commitment to a new level. Fully led by our female employees and dedicated to supporting female Saudi students of King Saud University, the program aims to provide them with the right aptitude, skills, and on-ground knowledge of working in challenging roles in industry. By familiarizing them with the real-workplace environment and offering them the environment to freely interact with our female employees, they gain a strong hands-on understanding of STEM-driven jobs. This will prepare them for future careers with the right skills, outlook and experience.”

Dr. Hessah A. AlSalamah, Vice Dean of the College of Computer and Information Sciences at of King Saud University, said: “The STEM Mentoring Program by GE is truly innovative and a model for nurturing the professional skills of our students. At King Saud University, we are committed to working with established industry leaders to provide our students a real perspective of how businesses operate. GE’s initiative was different as it was led by the company’s female staff, who provided strong insights to our students on the real-life work environment. The 12-week mentoring session has given them a bird’s eye view of how to leverage their education and pursue high quality job opportunities that will help them contribute to nation-building.”

As part of its partnership with leading Saudi universities, GE has been hosting number of GE Garages workshops for students in the Kingdom since 2016. The workshops are part of the GE Garages program – a series of training sessions for students and young professionals covering topics such as Additive Manufacturing and prototyping.

GE has over 80 years of partnership in the Kingdom with over 4,000 employees, including Baker Hughes, a GE company, with nearly 50 percent of the talent in highly skilled engineering and technology roles. GE has built an advanced industrial ecosystem that includes a growing local supply chain, with significant partnerships and investments in support of the Kingdom in its economic diversification goals, including building localized manufacturing competencies.