Women in male-dominated industries: A toolkit of strategies

This year, the Australian Human Rights Commission in conjunction with the Office for Women in the Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs released a 'toolkit' aimed at addressing some of the issues facing women in male-dominated industries. The 'toolkit' is designed as a resource for employers and employees, which provides practical solutions to gender equality issues in areas such as attraction, recruitment, retention and career development of women. Follow the link below to find out more:
https://www.humanrights.gov.au/publications/women-male-dominated-industries-toolkit-strategies-2013

We strongly recommend this document for Human Resources professionals as well as professionals in any fields considered to be 'non-traditional' for women.

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Getting Hands on with STEM

198 female high school students from 30 schools around NSW and the ACT gathered at the University of Technology, Sydney for the 2013 bi-annual Women in Engineering and IT Hands On Day on Friday 5 April. The day consisted of  interactive activities which encourage 13-18-year-old female high school students to consider engineering and IT as a career option.

Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) activities included:

• simulating earthquakes and learning about the power of amplitudes and frequencies with UTS’s remote lab
• the chance to learn the basics of Javascript, one of the world’s most common programming languages
• using magnets, batteries and wires to make an artificial heart and
• discovering how robots can be used to save lives following natural disasters
• careers talks from various UTS Alumni including Daphne Chong, Senior Software developer at Mi9.

Thanks to UTS’s strong links engaging with industry the day also featured representatives from Engineers without Borders, UTS Motorsports, UTS Centre for Health Technologies, ARC Centre of Excellence for Autonomous Systems, Commonwealth Bank, Microsoft, Tech Girls are Chic- Not Just Geek, Females in  IT and Telecommunications(FITT) and Symantec; as well as staff and student societies from the Faculty of Engineering and IT.

The Faculty’s Equity & Outreach Coordinator Laura Waibel said events like Hands On Day are important in convincing high school girls of the long-term societal benefits of studying and working in IT and Engineering.

‘’These industries are extremely important in shaping a sustainable and technology-driven future and women are currently underrepresented in both engineering and IT. We're hoping to change that one female high school student at a time because individuals regardless of gender and society as a whole stands to benefit from increased female participation in engineering and IT,’’ said Ms Waibel whose team were impressed by the energy of students at Hands On Day – particularly those who woke early to make the journey from Newcastle and the far south coast.

The next Hands On Day takes place on 6 August. Places fill up quickly so teachers are encouraged to book places early. Parents are encouraged to register their daughters to attend if schools are not able to allow an excursion.

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UTSpeaks - Women at the Summit Event

You can now view this event at
http://newsroom.uts.edu.au/events/2013/03/women-at-the-summit

Will Australia deliver on women in leadership?

When will we see equal opportunity for women to lead in business and the community? World-wide there is growing pressure for increasing the participation of women in leadership.
Seven countries have now adopted mandatory regulation to ensure greater participation of women at company board level. Will Australia's voluntary approach match this international progress?

Featuring influential and insightful panellists, this provocative Q&A forum will explore the issue of women participating at the highest levels of endeavour and leadership. Be sure to add your voice to a debate that will ultimately determine when women finally break through the glass ceiling.

Introduced by Professor Thomas Clarke & Alice Klettner, UTS Centre for Corporate Governance and lead researchers for the Workplace Gender Equality Agency’s 2012 Australian Census of Women in Leadership.

Moderated by Deborah Cameron
Broadcast journalist, community relations specialist and facilitator, Deb Cameron is inspired by the cause of growing women in leadership.

Panellists:
Claire Braund, Executive Director of Women on Boards
Elizabeth Bryan, Chairman, Caltex Australia Ltd
Verity Firth, Chief Executive Officer, Public Education Foundation Ltd
Judith Fox, Policy Director, Chartered Secretaries Australia
Christine Holgate, CEO & Managing Director, BLACKMORES

Date: Wednesday 6 March, 2013
UTSPEAKS: is a free public lecture series presented by UTS experts discussing a range of important issues confronting contemporary Australia, proudly supported by the UTS Union

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