When we established our UQ Women in Engineering Program and set ourselves an ambitious goal of achieving 30% female enrolments by 2023 we could have never anticipated the road ahead.
We knew that to sustainably and successfully change the balance of women in engineering we must have input and feedback from school to industry or risk leading more women into an industry that is not ready for them.
So our strategy became simple – we collaborate.
Over the past eight years, we have sustainably increased the number of commencing female engineering students from 19.4% in 2013 before the program commenced, to 27% this year. This is well above the national average (of approximately 20%) and something we are very proud of.
Our industry partners have all committed to being the change we want to see. And the high schools and influencers we’ve connected with are equally champions in advocating for a more diverse future.
Together with you – our industry, alumni, students, friends and staff – I foresee a bright future for our graduates where gender diversity is no longer a goal, but a reflection of what we have all achieved together.
Thank you,
Vicki
Professor Vicki Chen
Executive Dean
Faculty of Engineering, Architecture and Information Technology
Thank you to our program partners.
The consistent and ongoing support from our industry partners for the UQ Women in Engineering Program (WE) has resulted in The University of Queensland (UQ) being the university of choice for female students studying engineering in Queensland, with a record high of 27% commencing female enrolments into engineering programs in 2021, compared to a national average of 18%.
Find the full Women in Engineering Annual Report 2021 in the tabs below:
UQ Women in Engineering welcomed Meagan Bebendorf to the team in 2021 as the program’s dedicated Marketing Coordinator. In order to effectively communicate and engage with our primary target audience and get our message further afield, it is imperative that we utilise digital marketing to its full advantage. Meagan will be tasked with reviewing our platforms, messaging and content to ensure that we are aligning with our target audiences and gaining maximum reach and engagement. Digital marketing will be a main contributor to assisting us with our 2023 target.
Social Media
Already the program has seen increased engagement and reach on both Facebook and Instagram, gaining the attention of future students, current students, women in engineering, and the wider community within Australia and further afield. The overall goal for our social media platforms is to create an inclusive and informative platform to promote the diverse opportunities available within engineering.
The UQWomeninEngineering Facebook page is dedicated to current engineering students at UQ, while also providing incredible insight into the life of a UQ student for future students considering tertiary studies.
The womenin_engineering Instagram page is dedicated to the engineering industry as a whole, featuring inspiring women in engineering from all over the world, and showcasing the many specialties and endless career pathways available within engineering.
In 2021, we have featured women in engineering from a range of countries including but not limited to: Australia, United States of America, Angola, Serbia, Hungary, United Kingdom, Canada, and The United Arab Emirates. Our Instagram page recently surpassed 3,000 followers and enjoys a consistent flow of esteemed women in engineering who are keen to be featured on the page from all over the world.
Both social pages are ranked 1st against all 15 competitors (direct and indirect competitors) in a number of key categories including engagement and followers and are tracking well above the competitor average for all remaining categories.
If I didn't see a post made by UQ WE on one of your social media platforms I would probably never find out such a great opportunity for young engineering graduates, which will certainly kick start not only my career in engineering, but also help me adapt and build networking contacts in the chosen field of engineering.
2021 Electrical Engineering graduating student
Paid advertising
Aligning with our goals to engage with female high school students located in regional schools, we are exploring several digital marketing opportunities through social media to this audience in 2022. We are also exploring the opportunities available to use remarketing to reach our desired audience. Remarketing enables us to track visitors to our website and send a targeted and tailored message to a specific audience from these visitors, for example, targeting female high school students living in Mackay that have visited the engineering program page.
Closing message from the UQ Women in Engineering
Program team
2021 was a year of change and growth for the WE team. Amanda, with over 15 years engineering experience, joined the team just in time for the WE Explore Engineering Day, while Negin took six months parental leave for her second addition to the family. We also welcomed Meagan to the team, to coordinate all of the marketing, promotion and social media aspects of the program.
This year we introduced the Shadow an Engineer initiative to give current female engineering students an opportunity to see first-hand what a day in the life of an engineer entailed. Thank you, Ergon Energy and Energex, for hosting two WE Student Leaders for an invaluable experience.
We identified the significant impact that Guidance Officers have on high school student subject selection and QTAC preferences. We met with over 20 high school Guidance Officers, sent engineering brochures for them to share with potential students and emailed them opportunities for the WE team to visit the school to lead hands on workshops.
In 2021 the WE team was able to undertake outreach to educate over 1,500 high school students about the diverse and exciting career opportunities within engineering. We also hosted four tours of the EAIT Precinct with the aim of connecting with potential future students.
In recognition of the impact that the UQ Women in Engineering Program is having on the student understanding of engineering, and the number of women choosing to study engineering at UQ, this year the team was honoured with a Commendation Award for excellence in Community, Diversity and Inclusion.
In preparation for 2022, the WE team are currently working on updating our library of marketing materials including presentations and flyers, while also introducing some additional one-page flyers for use at industry events, school visits, tertiary exhibitions and campus events. The first on the list is to complete a double-sided flyer that is able to summarise WE’s achievements, goals, outreach activities, and promote our program partners.
We are incredibly excited about the 2022 outreach program, including a new chemical engineering cookie challenge workshop, the recording of Season 2 of the ‘But Seriously, What is Engineering?’ podcast and the National University Collaboration Workshop.
Amanda Merrick, Negin Beaton and Meagan Bebendorf
WE team
we@eait.uq.edu.au
+61 7 3443 1654
