PSA: Representation matters.
And the more we highlight, celebrate and showcase the incredible women and girls forging a career they love across the STEM industries, the more we can inspire more young women and girls to go after the roles they want.
It’s something we’re super proud to be able to do with our employer partners and their employee interviews, where we get to meet some fantastic people.
For International Day of Women and Girls in Science 2023, we wanted to bring your attention to some of these stories and ensure you don’t miss out on all the inspiration!
What is the International Day of Women and Girls in Science?
Since 2015, the 11th of February has been acknowledged as the International Day of Women and Girls in Science.
According to the United Nations, science and gender equality are vital for achieving international development goals. This includes raising access for women and girls into the fields of science and technology.
The UN sees the day as a global opportunity to celebrate and make visible women’s work across STEM subjects and to keep increasing engagement and access for girls everywhere to pursue careers in the sector.
The day aims to address vital areas of inequality, including:
- Access to grants and funding: According to the UN, women are typically given smaller research grants than their male colleagues.
- More diversity in leading technologies: In cutting-edge fields such as artificial intelligence, only one in five professionals is a woman.
- Addressing skills shortages: Despite a shortage of skills in most technological fields, women still account for only 28% of engineering graduates and 40% of computer science and informatics graduates.
- Greater career access and professional recognition: Female researchers have shorter, less well-paid careers. Their work is underrepresented in high-profile journals, and they are often passed over for promotions.
Making a Difference: The Employers Stepping Up For Gender Equality in STEM
We’re incredibly lucky to partner with so many employers who have made opening the door for more women to pursue thriving careers in STEM a huge priority.
If you haven’t already dived into our employee interviews, they’re the perfect way to explore how these employers are stepping up to support women across their industries.
For International Day of Women and Girls in Science, we’ve collated a few of our favourites:
WATCH: Spark Your Passion With an Autosports Group Apprenticeship!
It takes a lot for young women to listen to what they want in life and go after it – but good things happen when they do!
That’s something Monique Kolyvas, a first-year apprentice with Autosports Group, knows first-hand after she ditched expectations to go to uni and went after her passion for cars instead!
Learn all about Monique’s career journey and how Autosports has helped her land on her feet.
READ: Where Do You See Yourself in Five Years?
Read about Evelyn Sung’s amazing five-year journey from WSP Graduate Engineer to working on NSW’s Zero Emissions Bus rollout.
Combining her passion for engineering and architecture, and using both fields to improve human experiences in cities, Evelyn thanks the support and mentorship from other women in the industry for her career success.
WATCH: Think Trades is Just for the Boys? Think Again!
We loved chatting with Nicole King, Sales Representative with Middy’s, who joined us to let us know what working with the electrical services leaders is like.
Nicole shares how much they support and welcome diversity across their teams and more importantly how the industry is NOT just for the boys!
WATCH: Embracing a Full Career Pivot With BAE Systems!
“Be the change! If there aren’t many females, you can change that by doing it. Others will join you when you do.”
We could not agree with Joyce Jolland more!
A graduate Mechanical Engineer with BAE Systems, Joyce shares her best advice for pursuing the career YOU want – no matter the industry.
READ: To All the Girls Thinking About a Career in STEM: Go For It!
Meet Akansha Pandey, Information Security Specialist at Telstra and National Lead at AWSN Explorers, as she shares her career story into a thriving role in STEM with Telstra.
Thanks to mentorship and support from other professional women in the industry, Akansha gained the confidence to keep going after the roles she wanted – and she’s never looked back! She encourages others to do the same.
READ: Meet the Women of WesTrac
WesTrac have a track record of supporting and promoting women across their organisation, making sure they create inclusive environments that everyone can feel a part of and progress in – no matter what gender they identify with,
Meet Whitney in this Women of WesTrac interview as she shares her career journey into leadership with these progressive leaders in the industry.
And One Last Thing
We hope you feel as inspired as we are after that!
We have one last video for you, which we encourage you to showcase in your classrooms with your friends, younger siblings and family because it highlights what International Day of Women and Girls in Science is all about!
Journalist Rachel Ignotofsky takes through a visual re-writing of women’s history in science to be more honest and inclusive.
https://www.ted.com/talks/rachel_ignotofsky_making_women_in_science_visible
Talk about wow!
However you acknowledge the 11th of February; we hope it’s filled with lots of inspiration and motivation.
