UTS Faculty of Engineering and IT programs and scholarships are helping to create social change
Did you know UTS is home to Australia’s longest running Women in Engineering and IT (WiEIT) program? Since 1981, this Faculty of Engineering and IT program has driven social change so that study and career paths in these areas aren’t limited by gender. It supports women and gender-diverse students all the way from first year to graduation through collaboration with industry, innovative gender equity programs, and building an inclusive community.
Dr Faezeh Karimi, Director of WiEIT, says WiEIT also offers one-on-one mentoring with industry professionals through the Lucy Mentoring Program. “This opens students’ eyes to what career paths exist for them and increases their career confidence,” Faezeh says. Mentors assist students with resumes, interview prep, and goal setting plus teach leadership and communication skills like networking strategies they’ll need in the workplace.
Scholarships are an important part of WiEIT too, enabling students to develop professionally and socially through workshops, industry placements, mentoring, events and more. “Internships a re quite critical for the students,” Faezeh says. “They see for themselves what it looks like after graduation by being in a real-world setting, increasing their industry readiness.”
Fiona Herron, Senior Manager, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at scholarship sponsor the Commonwealth Bank says: “We want different people and the different voices that everyone brings.” “It’s been really wonderful to see the journey [of the scholars] and be part of it from the beginning, and really see the impact that it is having as we see more women participate.”
Career inspo
If you can see it, you can be it. These women are making their mark on the engineering and IT world by combining STEM with their passions.
- STEM + AI Amy Yang, Associate machine learning analyst, Luxury Escapes
- STEM + Space Flavia Tata Nardini, Co-founder and CEO of Fleet Space Technologies
- STEM + Sustainability Yuneska Harris, Engineering manager, Clenergy
A version of this article also appears in Careers with STEM: Future Careers, brought to you in partnership with UTS Faculty of Engineering and IT.
