Hey there! Did you know that even though women make up approximately 47% of the Australian workforce, they account for only about 27% of STEM-qualified people? And that in tertiary education, women are less likely to enrol in STEM-related fields compared to men?
Even though women represent most graduates in health and welfare fields, they are significantly underrepresented in areas like engineering and information technology. That’s why here at TMR we’re all about women in STEM, and we know it’s important to promote the success of women in this space. This month, we wanted to take the time to highlight a program that is near and dear to our hearts – our Women in Engineering Program.
When the program launched in 2016, the aim was to attract, support, retain and celebrate Women in Engineering. By encouraging students in STEM subjects, and delivering diversity initiatives, the program wanted to achieve two key objectives: to support the ‘future feed’ of quality engineers and to achieve a more equitable gender balance across all levels of engineering in TMR.
TMR Women in Engineering is not a program that you need to enrol to, it is an initiative that uses a pipeline approach to attract more female students to STEM subjects while supporting and retaining women in tertiary engineering studies and the professional engineering workforce, including within TMR. The initiative is based on sponsorship arrangements and networking.
Since launching, The Women in Engineering Program at TMR have worked on some astonishing initiatives, including:
- sponsored the Engineering Link Group to deliver The Engineering Link Project workshops and the Spaghetti Bridge Competition. 441 high-school students participated, of which 51 per cent were female.
- awarded two $2,000 Women in Engineering bursaries (one for South-East Queensland and one for Regional Queensland) delivered through the National Council of Women of Queensland (NCWQ) for high-performing women currently studying a Bachelor of Engineering (Honours). These bursaries are now open for applications here: https://ncwq.org.au/bursary-program-2024/
- awarded four $5,000 Women in Engineering bursaries delivered in partnership with Queensland University of Technology (QUT) for high-performing women currently studying a Bachelor of Engineering (Honours). These bursaries will open for applications on Monday 24th June 2024.
- sponsored a table at Engineers Australia International Women in Engineering lunch to celebrate the achievements of women in the engineering profession and to actively participate in the ongoing conversation surrounding gender equality in our industry.
- supported TMR graduates to participate in the all-female build for Constructionarium program, an eight-day hands-on training and development program where participants need to build and hand over a scale replica of an iconic Australian structure. This program is recognised as a critical project that supports engineers in the early stages of their careers.
Signing off for the month, here at TMR we hope that we can encourage you to pursue a career in STEM, knowing that you’ll be supported along the way.