ATN BOOSTING WOMEN’S LEADERSHIP IN STEM
20 January 2022Australian Technology Network of Universities (ATN) is proud to partner in the successful grant bid led by the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering (ATSE) which sees an investment of $41.2m to boost women’s leadership in STEM disciplines.
Australian Technology Network of Universities (ATN) is proud to partner in the successful grant bid led by the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering (ATSE) which sees an investment of $41.2m to boost women’s leadership in STEM disciplines.
Titled Elevate, the project will support up to 500 women studying and researching in STEM disciplines through a program of mentorship, industry internships and professional development.
As part of the program, women in STEM will participate in ATN Frontiers – a professional development program launched in 2021 for those undertaking a PhD or research masters degree to hone their professional skills and enhance the impact of their research in the workplace.
The grant funding is awarded through the Government’s Boosting the Next Generation of Women in STEM program. ATN will join ATSE and partners to co-design and finalise the program in the coming months.
Jobs in STEM are predicted to grow twice as fast as non-STEM jobs over the next five years. In order to meet this demand, we will need to increase the representation of women with university STEM qualifications well above the 31 per cent level it reached in 2016.
ATN universities have a long record of leadership in STEM education and research and are deeply committed to gender equity, diversity and inclusion. Together, we educate more than 130,000 students in STEM disciplines – 19 per cent of all STEM higher education students in Australia. Nearly 60,000 of these students are women.
Partners in this project include Cicada Innovations, gemaker, Cooperative Research Australia, FB Rice, KPMG, Women in Leadership Development Program, and Women in STEMM Australia.
Quotes attributable to ATN Executive Director, Mr Luke Sheehy:
“This announcement is a tremendous endorsement of ATN’s deep commitment to supporting women in STEM.
“Together with our project partners, we have the capability to provide up-and-coming STEM leaders with the highest quality education, professional development, and internship and mentoring opportunities.
“STEM is critical to Australia’s future. Including more women in STEM workforce will bring innovative thinking into workplaces and research areas that have suffered from low rates of women’s participation.
“ATN is strongly committed to the success of women in STEM and we can’t wait to get more people involved in ATN Frontiers.”
