The Lucy Mentoring Program aims to inspire a new generation of women engineers by providing role models and practical experience, addressing the gender disparities in engineering and IT fields, and promoting diversity to avoid design flaws that can have severe consequences in various aspects of modern life.
Role models and practical experience to inspire a new generation of women engineers
Although progress has been made in tackling gender disparities in several professional fields, women still make up a minority of the workforce in engineering and IT. This is not only problematic because women are underrepresented, but also because this translates into a lack of diverse perspectives, ideas and knowledge in the development of new technologies, says Lucía Bautista, UTS Program Coordinator of Women in Engineering and IT.
These are industries that impact how we do absolutely everything in our modern lives, and not considering diverse and intersectional perspectives in the design of solutions we use can have really serious consequences.
One such example is the fact that until not long ago, women were 17% more likely to die in a car crash compared with male crash victims. Why? Because all the crash test dummies were designed with average male weight and proportions. As a result, many cars are not designed to keep women safe.
Similar design flaws are embedded in touchscreen ATMs or EFTPOS machines that cannot be operated by vision-impaired users, or voice recognition AI software which only responds to certain accents. While there is no doubt that diversity is needed, girls and young women are still actively discouraged from participating in these industries.
Barriers for women start very early on; the expectations placed on girls are often biased and focused on very specific ideas that we have socially constructed. Even the toys they are offered rarely provide an opportunity to develop a curiosity towards STEM, or spark an interest in engineering and technology.
“So when these students apply for and are accepted into engineering and IT degrees, they have already pushed through and overcome many barriers,” says Bautista.
To ensure career guidance is available during their studies, the Lucy Mentoring Program was launched by UTS Women in Engineering and IT in 2010 to connect cis and trans women studying engineering or technology at UTS to industry professionals for one-on-one mentoring.
The program results from collaboration between UTS faculty, industry partners and professionals.
Having relatable role models and building a network of experts is very important for our mentees. Their mentor was in their position not too long ago and accessing their stories can help mentees design their own growth path and learn how to navigate whatever hurdles come next.
Since 2019, the pool of mentors includes all genders, and the 2023 mentee applications will include gender-diverse students.
"Gender equity is not a women’s issue. It is important to invite all genders into such programs so they can increase their awareness of the challenges women and other gender identities face and reflect on how they can address the culture shifts towards inclusion needed in their own workplaces and organisations,” Bautista concludes.