As the world comes together to celebrate International Women’s Day, IPWEA CEO Robert Fuller has re-affirmed the organisation’s commitment to supporting women in the fields of engineering and public works.
International Women’s Day celebrates the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. The theme of this year’s day is Pledge for Parity, recognising the giant steps still needed for women's pay to reach parity with men’s. In 2014, The World Economic Forum predicted it would take until 2095 to achieve global gender parity. In 2015, that anticipated date of gender parity blew-out to 2133.
The 2016 Westpac International Women’s Day Report found that, on average, women earn almost 12% less than men when starting full-careers. Women also see an average 12% drop in pay after taking maternity leave.
Fuller says the engineering and public works sectors in particular, which continue to be male-dominated, still have a lot of work to do. According to ABS data, women account for only about 12% of the total engineering workforce.
“At present, women make up only 34% of graduates in science, technology, maths and engineering in Australia,” Fuller explains. “A large percentage of women dropout very early on in their engineering careers, which indicates that we are not doing enough to help retain them, and are making it too difficult for them to return to work after having children. Women are still underrepresented in high-level positions. Numerous studies have shown our worksites, offices and boardrooms are infinitely better-off when women are properly represented.
“This is not just a problem for 50% of our population; this is a societal issue that has ramifications on economies and restricts our ability as an industry to innovate and embrace future opportunities.
“Importantly, achieving gender diversity and parity in our workplaces is not only about empowering women, and making more opportunities available to help them progress their careers.
“It’s also about offering men flexibility in the workplace, so that they can support their partners by sharing in family responsibilities. It’s about breaking down ingrained ‘gender norms’, and creating a cultural change that gives everyone equal opportunities.
“IPWEA is committed to supporting women in the fields of engineering and public works, and encourages all employers to take steps to ensure greater gender diversity and gender parity.”