Why we need to see more girls embracing the engineering industry and workplaces ready to support them every step of the way.
As school leavers prepare for 2025 university offers, IPS Director Sascha Kurz is calling for more girls to consider a career in engineering to help bridge the industry’s gender divide and address a looming skills shortage.
Sascha, who has enjoyed a 20-year career in this traditionally male-dominated profession, has long blazed a path for women in engineering. That’s why at IPS, females comprise over 30 per cent of the engineering workforce – a ratio of more than double the Australian average.
But there is still more to be done.
Sascha said it would be great to see more young women embracing engineering as a viable and rewarding career.
“Engineering offers such a diverse range of opportunities,” she said.
“It’s an industry that is all about creating a lasting impact where you can see the tangible results of your work, from designing sustainable buildings to creating systems that make communities safer and stronger.
“I want young women to see engineering as a career path where they can make a real, visible difference.”
“Change is possible, but it requires commitment from within the industry. We need more young women to bring their skills, creativity, and resilience to engineering, and we need workplaces that are ready to support them every step of the way.”
Sascha believes this is the perfect time for women to step into engineering roles that drive Queensland’s future.
“In Queensland, women make up just a fraction of the engineering workforce, despite steady growth in the sector,” she said.
“By raising awareness about the broad range of engineering disciplines, from environmental and civil to software, biomedical and more, we could attract more female students.
“Girls need to know that engineering isn’t just about construction sites and hard hats – it’s about problem-solving and innovation.
“When I was in high school 25 years ago, engineering wasn’t offered to me as a career path – only through some very fortunate circumstances I found my way into a Bachelor of Engineering degree in my second year at university, and I’ve never looked back.
“Having the opportunity to work on projects that make a genuine difference to the community and peoples’ lives has been incredibly fulfilling.
“I’m especially proud of all the other women who are making this same contribution and the chance I’ve had to help them and make engineering a more inclusive profession.”
Sascha caught up with first year engineering student Josephine Krishna to discuss her studies at the University of Queensland (UQ) and plans to specialise in civil engineering.
“I didn’t always want to do engineering, but when it came time to consider what was next for me after school, I realised engineering could be a great degree because I liked math, science and formulas,” said Josephine.
“The course is still male dominated but there are more women than I expected. This may be because UQ really encourages and supports girls who do engineering and I have several female friends in my course.
“Newer companies are looking for diversity more than ever so my group is quite hopeful of getting a job when we finish our degrees.”
Sascha said achieving a higher-than-average proportion of women engineers at IPS had been more organic than deliberate, reflecting the company’s unique culture.
“We always hire on merit, but I think the combination of our culture and female leadership has attracted more women candidates to roles at IPS,” she said.
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