DIVERSITY INITIATIVES
As the power industry is keen to increase diversity; amongst engineering roles, the Australian Power Institute has teamed up with Powerlink Queensland and Energex and Ergon Energy Network (Part of Energy Queensland Group) to part-fund the Women in Engineering (WiE) Program at the University of Queensland (UQ). By supporting this gender equity program, we aim to encourage young women to study Science, Technology, Engineering & Maths (STEM) in high school to ultimately inspire more females to establish their career within the energy sector.
WHY DO WE CARE HOW MANY WOMEN ARE IN ENGINEERING?
Dr. Alex Bannigan reminded us in the WiE annual report that: “Women make up over 50% of the adult population, but less than 20% of the people designing and building the world we live in. Business leaders know well that diversity improves problem solving: the more different kinds of people you have working on a problem, the better solution you are likely to get. Gender equity in engineering will benefit society, businesses and individual women.”
IMPORTANCE OF DIVERSITY
In a powerful diversity statement by Stephanie Crawley (Development & Communications, UQ WiE), Ms. Crawley stated: “Engineers are society’s problem solvers. As every problem solver knows, the more inputs that are known, the easier the problem is to solve. The best engineering team must therefore be as diverse as the society they work in.
Diversity eliminates silo thinking, fosters innovation and helps break down prejudices and subconscious biases. Most importantly, diversity is proven to generate better performing and more creative teams. Women in Engineering are diversity’s first step towards a better world!”
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Download the Power Engineering Careers for Women brochure.
