Women in the Automotive Industry: In conversation with Lisa Brankin

Welcome to the first ‘Women in the Automotive Industry’ blog!

The industry hasn’t always been equitable but today there are many women making key decisions for the future of all things automotive. This monthly blog aims to celebrate these leaders in the hope of inspiring a younger generation to aim high. Mycardirect is incredibly proud of the strong women within our team and encourage all team members to adopt a progressive mind-set. With events such as the ‘Autocar: Great Women in the British Car Industry Awards’ giving leading women the recognition they deserve; it is clear progress has been made. In order to continue on the route of equity, it is our duty to raise awareness to inspire a younger generation. As a Peugeot UK ambassador, for her 2019 Autocar awards speech, Judy Murray stated “if you can see it, you can be it. If you never see it, why would you want to be it?” This blog is a platform to show women of all ages they can excel within the Automotive industry as others have done before them.

We are thrilled to announce our first guest is Lisa Brankin, the Passenger Vehicle Director for Ford Motor Company Ltd UK & Ireland. Having joined Ford’s graduate program after university, Lisa has remained loyal to Ford throughout her career. Her depth of knowledge has grown from delivering diverse roles within Ford, from taking responsibility for sales distribution channels to managing dealer operations. Despite her wealth of experience and high authority, Lisa emitted warmth and her Northern Irish charm made for an effortless conversation. We want our readers to become inspired but equally empowered, with dedication and drive anyone can become a future leader.

“The industry hasn’t always been equitable but today there are many women making key decisions for the future of all things automotive.“

Perhaps the most insightful thing that emerged from our discussion was an obvious disproportion within the dealership world. Whilst the automotive industry is not explicitly sexist, according to the US National Automobile Dealers Association study released in 2018, ‘just 19% of dealerships employees are female.’1 There are a multitude of reasons as to why this may be and not necessarily at the fault of male leadership. Lisa noted women tend to be very focused on HR, accounting, admin, and marketing – reputable roles – but are lacking when it comes to engineering. Within the automotive industry there are a plethora of jobs that lack female representation. Technicians, auto electricians, mechanics and auto designers make up the essential workforce driving the physical element of automotive services forward. The 2018 Engineering report claims, ‘25.4% of girls 16-18 would consider a career in engineering compared to 51.9% of boys’, and ‘girls and women make up less than 18% of higher apprentices in engineering and manufacturing, and 7.4% of all engineering apprentices.’2 In recent years there has been a strong push to encourage female students to consider further education in STEM subjects, however, ‘the proportion of young women studying engineering and physics has remained virtually static since 2012.’3 It is our responsibility to give young women the confidence to apply for further education in STEM subjects.

Please enjoy the following interview with Lisa, she offers a unique perspective from within the automotive industry, making for an insightful conversation.

Who: Lisa Brankin
Company: Ford Motor Company Ltd.
Position: UK & Ireland Passenger Vehicle Director
Years in position: 1 year 2 months (15 years 5 months at Ford)

Questions:

1. You grew up in Northern Ireland and studied at the University of Ulster – what did you study?

‘I studied Economics at university. Typically, people went into teaching afterwards, something I was not interested in pursuing.’

2. Have you always wanted to work in the automotive industry?

‘No, although I had an interest in cars stemming from my dad’s passion for motor- sports and an all-round cars enthusiast. Working in the automotive industry was not something I had considered as a career, it was just an opportunity that arose when I left university.’

3. How did you get into the automotive industry?

‘Through a graduate trainee position – the structure of the training we were offered appealed to me. As an organisation we very much believe that breadth is important so people are encouraged to develop alongside the company.’

4. Has the gender equity within Ford changed in recent years?

‘I was talking to someone a little while ago about what the corporation was like when I started. There was broadly equal number of male and female graduates joining but previously that was not the case. A lot of women who joined in my time and for the ten years afterwards, did things for the first time because women hadn’t had those roles before.’

“Often, I am one of very few women in the whole venue.”
‘Although, within the national sales company we have almost 50:50 split of male and female , this has meant we have stopped thinking about people as men and women, instead you think about who is talented or best for each role. It just so happens that broadly speaking most of our senior management in Ford Britain, the National Sales Company, is female, with just over 50% but that is down to chance. We have got lots of really great men and women, they have equitable opportunities.’

5. Have you ever felt noticeably outnumbered in the boardroom?

‘The most noticeable disparity occurs when we have senior conferences with owners or dealer principals. Often, I am one of very few women in the whole venue. Last year, we had an event talking about electrification and I went to the toilet [laughs] and there was a massive queue for the gent’s toilet but I just walked straight in because there was no queue at all. It makes me smile that I know when I go to a dealer event I won’t have to queue for the toilet.’

‘I think we still have issues with regards to the broader dealership and manufacturing worlds, but in sales and marketing we are more equitable.’

‘The spread of women throughout the industry isn’t equitable, different organisations have different splits. At Ford we have a very strong representation of women the whole way through our sales and marketing organisation, but I can’t speak for other manufacturers.’

6. No one can deny merit is why you have been so successful, do you think it is fair to say you had to work harder than your male colleagues to get to where you are today?

‘It’s a tough industry to be promoted in and if you want to be in that position, you have to work hard and take every opportunity. I’ve been very fortunate because Ford being an American company, the idea of equality is very much ingrained into the way we operate. Even before it was something spoken about in Europe and Britain, it is something Ford have been very aware of.’

“Greater self-belief early on in my career would have helped.”

7. If you could give your younger self any advice what would it be?

‘To believe in myself more. Probably a trait that many women [not all] have is that they look for the reasons why not, rather than the reasons why. Greater self-belief early on in my career would have helped. Go through job specifications and look at all the things you can do, not the traits you are lacking. Have confidence in your own ability.’

‘I didn’t have a mentor but there were a couple of people throughout my career who supported me when I lost confidence. I’m really grateful for them but you do have to find confidence from within.’

8. Are there any other women in the automotive industry you admire?

‘That’s a really difficult question – Anita Fox who heads up the Facebook Automotive team does a fantastic job at creating a profile for automotive and listening to clients to help them grow their business. She’s a really interesting and impressive person. Having started off in the automotive industry with Volvo, she later made the switch to Facebook.’

Conclusion

Speaking to Lisa has both unearthed new aspects of being a woman in the automotive industry and confirmed pre-conceived notions. The large, globally acclaimed Ford Motors Ltd. has seemingly treated Lisa and her female colleagues with equitable opportunities to gain initial training in a multitude of roles and to rise within the company according to merit, evidently the dealership sector has some catching up to do. Allow me to reiterate this blog is not pointing the finger at male colleagues or the interview selection process. The industry will only change when women support and encourage one another to have confidence. Without wanting to sound cliché, confidence is indeed key.

References:

1. Engineering UK, ‘2020 Educational Pathways into Engineering’, https:// www.engineeringuk.com/media/232298/engineering-uk-report-2020.pdf [accessed:17/08/20]

2. Talent 2030 Dashboard, ‘National Centre for Universities and Business, 2015’, http:// www.ncub.co.uk/reports/talent-2030-dashboard-2015.html [accessed: 17/08/20]

3. K. Wysocky, ‘This could be a great time to hire women in service — here’s how’, https://www.autonews.com/fixed-ops-journal/could-be-great-time-hire-women- service-heres-how [accessed: 07/08/2020]