Prime Minister Julia Gillard
To mark International Women’s Day, a host of scholarships were announced by Parliament. Women are being encouraged to take up typically “blokey” activities. Fields such as mining are exponentially growing and lacking women. Engineering has been attracting more and more women.
Speaking of mining, the field has grown so much (especially in Western Australia) that Gina Rinehart’s mining stakes may soon make her the richest person in the world. She isn’t the only powerful woman of Australia. Aussieland’s own Julia Gillard rose to become the nation’s first female Head of State. One of Australia’s prominent universities, Edith Cowan University, is even named after the famous social campaigner and MP.
Women are encouraged to break into fields that aren’t traditional. Our Washington, DC office was delighted to meet the Young Australian of the Year, Marita Cheng. Her work as Robogals founder includes encouraging women to enter engineering fields as well as promoting the field of robotics.
This is a great initiative but I am not sure how much the employers would like a woman doing blokey activities.
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