We love bringing together employers and students. We do it every day in the SWL program. That’s why we have been wanting to engage with the Southern Program Alliance (SPA) team who are doing the local level crossing removals. With the help and support of our local MP Tim Richardson, we were able to develop a relationship with SPA and expose our students to this massive project.
We wanted to bring them together because young people stay engaged in education when they can connect their learning in school to their future beyond school. So we invited SPA to come into schools to show the pathway from where students are at now, to working on one of the biggest infrastructure projects in Victoria.
We were grateful to have Simone, an Engineer working on the level crossing removals, talk to over 200 year 12 students at Parkdale Secondary College and share her career story.
We know from Sophie Weldon’s great work at Human Kind Enterprise that we feel more connected when we hear people’s stories. Hearing real stories that help build young people’s connection and meaning to the world around them, we think, is one of the best forms of career education!
If you’d like to see more of Sophie’s work, check out her presentation from our annual At Risk Forum this year – https://www.bgkllen.org.au/2019/08/22/at-risk-forum-2019-presentations/.
We also know that there are less women entering careers in STEM, with women making up a mere 12.4% of the engineering workforce. One reason for this could be the lack of female role models for girls to look up to and aspire to. The SPA also recognises this gap and have 4 female Engineers ready and keen to get into schools to showcase the amazing job opportunities available to women in STEM.
We’re excited to provide local students with the opportunity to hear about the incredible work going on around them, and for them not only to see it, but understand the diversity of careers associated with it!
Laura