ECU joins forces with fellow WA universities to boost gender diversity in engineering

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ECU joins forces with fellow WA universities to boost gender diversity in engineering

Wednesday, 08 June 2022

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On 1 June 2022, Edith Cowan University (ECU) participated in Part #1 of a two-part 'University Collaboration Workshop' designed to break down barriers, address challenges and increase the participation of girls and women in engineering disciplines.

Entitled ‘University Collaboration Workshop 2022’, the concept was originally initiated and facilitated by the University of Queensland in a nation-wide initiative. During the event, representative from ECU, Curtin University, Murdoch University, and the University of Western Australia collaborated as State collective to share knowledge and experience so that greater participation of women in engineering may be realised on a broader scale. Discussing challenges and successes, current initiatives and future action plans were explored through brainstorming sessions where universities could directly share their experiences in the spirit of knowledge share.

Women continue to be underrepresented in the fields of Science Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), and through initiatives such as this, ECU together with the School of Engineering, are seeking to address this disparity. These combines efforts are part of ECU’s wider commitment to Science in Australia Gender Equity Limited (SAGE) and the Athena Swan Charter in Australia, an organisation who strive to embed genuine and sustainable gender equity, diversity and inclusion across the Australian tertiary education and research sector.

In previous years (launching in 2016), this biennial workshop took place over two consecutive days, hosted in a different location around the country. With the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic felt by all universities, the event was postponed in 2020. In 2022, it is being delivered as a hybrid event split again across two days, however held a few weeks apart. This is to ensure the event is curated to enable teams to experience the invaluable in-person collaboration received in previous years.

Part #2 of the workshop is taking place on 16 June 2022 in a nation-wide virtual presentation format, spanning both Australia and New Zealand. It will include topics and speakers nominated by members of the State workshop collaborations.

For more information about Athena Swan or ECU’s commitment to gender equality, visit our Gender Equality webpage.

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