1. System Fix: Transforming recruitment and
education of engineers by the experience
of WiE advocacy and experiment

2. Background
How the question of women’s low participation in engineering
education, in faculties and in the workforce is a legitimate subject
with which to
• engage engineering students and
• build their capacity to participate and contribute to workplace
reforms as future professionals
Opportunity for a ‘system approach’ to gender diversity in engineering
• significant policy reforms by federal government;
• diversity innovation in many companies and public sector organizations; and
• action arising from commitments made by some universities

3. Policy developments towards gender equity
National Paid Parental Leave
Right to request flexible working conditions by parents of children under 5 and
children under 16 with disabilities
Reform and increased funding of the Equal Opportunity in the Workplace Agency
(EOWA)
ASX Australian Stock Exchange Gender Diversity Reporting obligations
Challenge for University engineering faculties
Strategy to redress the participation by women at all levels for equity; workforce
planning; academic leadership and national labour force

4. UTS Women in Engineering & IT
Recognised for model of outreach, support and partnering with industry and
professional and non-profit organisations
to communicate opportunities of engineering & IT as choices of study and
career to girls and young women; to support students; to engage and
exchange with organisations which share these objectives
Godfrey & King attribute an additional 5% of female enrolment to such initiatives
and credit them with
• Engaging women students in outreach, mentoring, peer support and
leadership which builds confidence
• (Being)major contributors to recruitment
• Attracting diverse stakeholders who bring valuable resources to universities.
• Should be sustainably funded, and ‘embedded’ in faculty culture and
business (2011 p183).

5. http://www.utswomeninengineeringandit.blogspot.com

6. Outreach, support, partnering

7. Women in Engineering & IT Program (WiE&IT)
• Hands on Days for Years 8-10 and 11 & 12
• Lucy Mentoring in IT and engineering
• SWIEIT Speakers
• Year 8 Lab Days
• Scholarships
• Lunch meetings and seminars

8. Women in the engineering workforce and in academia
Poor retention in engineering workforce (<10%) (Mills et al 2008)
Rate of women in engineering academia is low and virtually unchanged since
1995 (WISE cited in Bell 2009)
King recommended the profession should address shortages by
• addressing diversity in engineering workplaces supported by engineering
education programs and
• revitalising the best of the Women in Engineering Programs(2008 p.111)

9. Opportunity
To use current developments for systemic culture change in engineering
education towards valuing and including women (Godfrey & King 2011 p189)
and to transform aspects of structure, processes, work practices and mental
models (ADVANCE Khare 2011)

10. Gender diversity ‘in practice’
Practice Based Engineering UTS
• Integrates two industry internships and with preview and review coursework
subjects are recognized by the award of a Diploma of Engineering Practice.
Taking system approach to diversity by gender in engineering, based on a
mandate from government and with current research means there is an
• opportunity to find sites in the curriculum in which to engage students about
diversity in the workplace and the ‘business’ and equity case for reforms that
will be of general benefit.

11. Gender Inclusive Curriculum
Mills, Ayre & Gill in Guidelines explain that this is grounded in a
Constructivist model of learning in which it is understood to be
Influenced by prior experiences and involves
Social activity which occurs through discussion and interactions where ways of
thinking, of defining and solving problems and professional attributes and
behaviours are modelled.
and that curriculum involves choices not only about knowledge and theories
students learn but about the language, problems and examples used; the
design of teaching and learning activities; the learning environment and
mode of delivery, assessment and more.
(Mills, Ayer& Gill 2010 p1)
www.altc.edu.au/system/files/news/Guidelines_for_the_design_of_inclusive_
engineering_education_programs.pdf

12. Alternate experiences
For a female engineering student …
the lack of gender diversity in engineering would have been repeatedly flagged
in her investigation of choices for study and career
It is unlikely to have been raised as an important consideration for her fellow
male students in their decision-making.
This is a difference that can be exploited in teaching and learning by making
gender diversity in the engineering course, and by field, and in the workforce
generally, a subject of investigation and debate.
This would contribute to capacity building for engineers required to demonstrate
newly published Stage 1 Competency Standards

13. Knowledge and Skill Base: Professional Engineer
Competency 1.5 Knowledge of contextual factors impacting the
engineering discipline
Indicators of attainment include:
d) Identifies the structure, roles and capabilities of the engineering
workforce, and
e) Appreciates the issues associated with international engineering practices
and global operating contexts
Competency 3.6 Effective Team Member and team leadership
Indicators of attainment include:
a) Understand the fundamentals of team dynamics and leadership
b) Functions as an effective team member or leader of diverse teams, including
those with multi-level, multi-disciplinary and multi-cultural dimensions
(Engineers Australia 2011)

14. Mandate for WISE action
Gender Inclusive Curriculum
Promoted as a measure for increasing the recruitment and retention of women
by Godfrey & King 2011 and
Endorsed by the Vice-Chancellors of the ATN universities as one of five
recommended actions arising from the national Women in Science and
Engineering Summit this year.

15. ATN VC’s WISE Recommendations
1. The ATN work with a committee, that includes a Faculty Head/Dean and a
senior female academic in STE, from each university to address:
a. Greater focus on girls participation in the pathways provided into
maths, science and engineering study;
b. Sharing lessons and experiences in the recruitment and retention of female
students in STE and investigating the development of some national
programs across the ATN based on best practice at individual universities;
c. Reviewing with Faculty Heads/Deans the number of female academics
in science, engineering and technology, with those targets to meet or
exceed at all academic levels the proportion of women employed
across STE industries in Australia;
d. Ensuring STE classes are conducive to women’s participation including
through adoption of gender inclusive curriculum in engineering
2. The ATN adopt the UN ‘Women’s Empowerment Principles: Equality Means
Business’ and that universities also individually consider their adoption

16. Outlook
Policy developments give rise to the opportunity for a system approach in
engineering faculties to redress the low participation of women at all levels.
Conditional on leadership and resources
Guidance by recommendations on women in engineering by Godfrey & King
and draw on the work of Mills, Ayre & Gill on gender inclusive curriculum to
engage male as well as female students on gender diversity
In this way students can value new diversity initiatives in their faculty and
graduate with an increased literacy in diversity and equal opportunity and be
able to take an active role in making their organizations more diverse, more
inclusive and thereby more productive and better places to work.

17. Thanks!
and to WIE&IT team: Laura Waibel, Karen Belista
and to Amy Burrows
Program Dir Women in Engineering & IT,
Lecturer, School of Systems, Management & Leadership
Faculty of Engineering & IT
University of Technology, Sydney
tel: +61 2 9514 2601
fax: +61 2 9514 1266
bronwyn.holland@uts.edu.au

18. References
Bell, S. (2009) Women in Science in Australia: Maximising Productivity, Diversity and Innovation, FASTS
Godfrey, E. and King, R. (2011) Curriculum specification and support for engineering education: understanding
attrition, academic support, revised competencies, pathways and access, UTS, ALTC Viewed 13 July 2011
http://www.altc.edu.au/resource-engineering-qualification-curriculum-uts-2011
King, R. (2008) Addressing the supply and quality of engineering graduates, ALTC .Viewed 13 July 2011
http://www.altc.edu.au/resource-addressing-supply-quality-engineering-graduates-uts-2008
Mills, J., Mehrtens, V., Smith, E., Adams, V., 2008 CREW Revisited in 2007 The Year of Women in Engineering, An
update on women’s progress in the Australian engineering workforce. Canberra
Mills, J., Ayre, M. and Gill, J. (2010) Gender Inclusive Curriculum in Engineering, Routledge
Mills, J., Ayre, M. and Gill, J. (2010) Guidelines for the design of inclusive engineering education programs, ALTC
www.altc.edu.au/system/files/news/Guidelines_for_the_design_of_inclusive_engineering_education_programs.pdf
Payne, A-M.(ed.) (2004) Women in Non-traditional Fields at UTS, UTS Equity & Diversity Unit
Pond, S. and Holland, B. (2010) Australia needs women in the corner offices, FOCUS, FASTS , December pp26-28
Ross-Smith, A. (2009) Review of UTS Gender Strategy, UTS Equity & Diversity Unit
Shoemark, L. (2007) The Gender Jigsaw: Participation in non-traditional fields of study. UTS Sydney