Google Australia, UNSW Jointly Organised Event To Encourage Young Women Into Pursuing Engineering Careers

The University of New South Wales (UNSW), along with search giant Google orgnised an event to attract more girls into studying and pursuing careers in science and technology, and at least 160 female school students have participated in it.

The event titled: The Power of Engineering conducted a workshop that asked students to create a mechanical hand from everyday objects and use it to pick up a paper clip and a styrofoam cup.

A year 10 student, Holly Loosemore said, she liked the idea of being innovative and thinking of new ways to help others.

She found the workshop facilitating enough, which made participants consider all kinds of possibilities, as she is not entirely sure of what engineering actually involves.

A Masters’ Degree student at the UNSW, who oversaw the event, said the event gave a glimpse of what’s in store for the future female engineers in the country, and the possibilities that can be explored out there.

It also offered a platform to build network and connect with country’s future female engineers.

Encouraging The Numbers To Grow

According to the Department of Education, the percentage of females in Information Technology and engineering courses are only between 11 percent and 22 percent across NSW.

The UNSW informed, its courses in mechanical, computer science, mining and petroleum engineering see only 16 percent of female students. "The number is very low, it's certainly lower than it should be," Mark Hoffman, the Dean of Engineering at UNSW said.

The co-organiser of the event, Google Australia said, the number of young women pursuing careers in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) is simply not inspiring enough.

Meanwhile, Sally-Ann Williams, Google Australia's engineering community and outreach program manager, mentioned the company wanted more female students to pursue engineering.

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