I have been with The Missing Link since 2002, and in that time, I’ve watched our team of powerful women grow from just me to 40.
Every day we celebrate our growing network of strong women who have carved out incredible careers in an industry that has a gender imbalance many organisations are trying to address. We’ve built a workplace culture that acknowledges and fosters the diversity that females bring to the workplace and the ICT industry.
Every organisation in Australia is increasingly reliant on science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) skills to thrive. As a result, the demand for a STEM-skilled workforce is escalating and showing no signs of slowing down. With our industry amidst a critical skill shortage, it is important now more than ever that businesses look at more ways to attract and retain great female talent. Across Australia, businesses are facing a common challenge: the need to tackle the significant under-representation of women in the STEM workforce.
I am grateful for all the wonderful women in my life that inspire me every day, which is why I work hard to be a visible role model for young girls. Through mentoring, I hope to support and empower the next generation of women in the ICT industry.
The Missing Link has been supporting the Tech Girls Movement Foundation since 2019, as we recognise the need to highlight the amazing opportunities the ICT industry offers at the earliest stage possible.
The Tech Girls Movement Foundation campaigns for a future where women will lead and innovate across STEM fields, thus empowering themselves and bringing broader social and economic benefits. Primary and secondary schooling plays a significant role in providing learning and teaching environments in which girls can choose and relish STEM subjects. By removing barriers to participation, girls can readily engage in STEM education and then use those skills to progress through their careers to senior levels.
This year we have six very talented mentors from The Missing Link encouraging and fostering the learning of girls aged 7-17 with STEM skills, such as application development and coding. In addition, the competition offers learning outcomes that include teamwork and collaboration, research, UX design, marketing and sales and the importance of scheduling and deadlines. As visible role models, our aim is to ensure they’re well informed about the exciting career pathways in the industry, and organisations like ours before choosing their career paths.
I love the Techgirls competition and its learning outcomes. It started in 2014 with 16 students, since then nearly 11,000 schoolgirls in over 500 schools, across Australia and New Zealand, have taken part. The alumnae stories are truly inspiring. One of these is Amelia Munday. She commenced her medical science degree at 13 and this year, at age 16, she was a finalist in the NSW Women of the Year Awards, One to Watch category. Amelia is this year’s Techgirls Student Ambassador, providing support to any of the competition entrants. I share the Tech Girls Movement Foundation’s vision and feel very honoured to be a part of their campaign to educate and inspire our next generation of leaders!
If you liked this article, you may also like:
2020: our year in review
The importance of a healthy workplace culture
