Breaking down gender barriers: GHD’s STEM Pathways Program

Acknowledging the significant under-representation of females in the STEM industry, GHD sought to take a deeper look into what could be contributing to the obvious lack of gender diversity.

Statistically, the numbers were alarming.

Firstly, enrolments of female students in STEM related university degrees had stagnated. In almost two decades, from 2001 to 2019 the percentage of female enrolments has seen only a 2% increase. Secondly, the rate of females studying STEM subjects in secondary school compared to male students is significantly lower. Females make up only 10% of all students studying engineering in Year 12, with 25% for physics and 38% for higher mathematics (Australian Academy of Science, 2019).

Looking to explore these figures further, our team, led by GHD’s Monica George, uncovered several factors that may impede females from pursuing careers in STEM. These include:

• Cultural stereotypes, conformity to social expectations, gender roles and a lack of role models.
• Unconscious bias about STEM careers.
• A lack of understanding, encouragement and expectations impacting on the subject choices of girls in secondary school. Engineers Australia (2022) notes that engineering is not visible in schools (and in society in general).
• A lack of self-confidence i.e “I’m bad at maths/science” mindset which inhibits the freedom to fail and to engage in trial-and-error processes, which are fundamental to acquiring knowledge in math and science.
• ‘Tilt’ - even when girls have excellent results in STEM subjects, they are likely to also excel at humanities subjects and ‘tilt’ towards these in further studies. This is reversed in boys who ‘tilt’ towards STEM.
• For females from disadvantaged backgrounds and regional areas, these inhibitors are all magnified.

With their first-hand experience of what it means to be a female in the profession, GHD’s Monica George, Maritsa Kacopieros and Rebecca Argento understood that any attempt to break down the barriers impeding females from careers in STEM had to start early, specifically in school.

In 2017, the GHD STEM Pathways program was developed with the aim of provide Year 10 female students with real-life exposure to a variety of teams at GHD whilst also dismantling preconceived misconceptions about what it means to work in STEM.

The weeklong immersive program works to provide a deeper understanding of what working in STEM truly involves, as well as providing exposure to the depth of personalities, roles, and pathways within the various fields. Tasks include:

• Combination of facilitated sessions and presentations including stakeholder engagement, BIM/Virtual Reality, University courses overview, presentation skills/confidence building and an industry network lunch with clients.
• Site visit hosted by our mock project client, Lendlease.
• Working on real-life tasks including being assigned specific roles related to the mock project. Examples include environmental scientist, civil engineer, chemical engineer, project manager, dams engineer and heritage advisor.

At the end of the program, the students present what they have learnt relating to their allocated discipline. Key mentors within their host teams attend the presentation and the students share their experiences from the program. This final presentation also provides an opportunity for students to hear information presented by their peers – enhancing their exposure across all disciplines.

Female students who participate become advocates, not just of the STEM Pathways program but advocates of pursuing STEM related studies within their school and local communities. Their experience also helps break down the barriers and misconceptions held by any peers not directly involved in the program.

Since its launch in 2017, GHD’s STEM Pathways program has engaged over 10 schools and hosted more than 100 participants over six years. The program now runs out of three GHD offices in Victoria, with plans to expand the STEM Pathways program into other states.

Listen to the Australian Water Association podcast featuring Rebecca Argento and Maritsa Kacopieros discussing GHD’s STEM Pathways program.

About GHD

GHD is a leading professional services company operating in the global markets of water, energy and resources, environment, property and buildings, and transportation. Committed to a vision to make water, energy, and communities sustainable for generations to come, GHD delivers advisory, digital, engineering, architecture, environmental and construction solutions to public and private sector clients. Established in 1928 and privately owned by its people, GHD’s network of 12,000+ professionals is connected across 160 offices located on five continents.