Mackay schoolgirls take on jobs for the boys at Women Who Weld event - CQUniversity

11 March 2024

St. Catherine's Catholic High School student Maddison Macgillvray tried her hand at welding under instruction from CQU teacher Chris Weeks

by Greg Chapman

CQUniversity's TAFE training is breaking down barriers to help young women experience a trade with the Mackay Ooralea campus hosting a special welding event for high school girls from 11-12 March.

Held in partnership with the Queensland Manufacturing Institute, BHP Mitsubishi Alliance (BMA), and the Whitsunday STEM Challenge, the "Women Who Weld" event saw 14 Year 10 and 11 female students from Mackay region schools visit the Ooralea campus and try their hand at welding.

With the goal of building gender diversity in the workplace, QMI's "Women Who Weld program", which is part of the Gateway to Industry initiative, also aims to address the national trade skills shortage by exposing girls to welding as a gateway to the many job opportunities in the Western Downs' flourishing manufacturing sector, where 76 per cent of jobs are occupied by men.

CQU Ooralea Campus Coordinator Leanne Williams said: "Typically, school STEM agendas focus on getting girls into tertiary studies, whereas this program shows there are options into trade pathways where STEM is still very important."

President Whitsunday STEM Challenge Rowan Cahill said Whitsunday STEM Challenge is proud to coordinate this initiative for the fourth year running "as it helps develop the skills and talents of young people in the areas where we operate."

"It is especially gratifying to encourage another generation of women to have greater participation in a non-traditional industry and we wish them the very best," he said.

Students from various Mackay region schools participated in the Women Who Weld event at the Mackay Ooralea campus

QMI's Program Manager Jules McMurtrie, said QMI data showed a 20 per cent increase in female participation in trade pathways because of the Women Who Weld program.

"Ninety-eight per cent of the businesses I deal with say they would pay for a young person's higher education in engineering or similar technical degree, if that person committed to a trade pathway in the first instance," she said.

"Employers are really after job ready people with the right attitude and having a trade background often leads to better quality engineers, designers, salespeople or quality controllers because the recruit has a better understanding of how things are actually produced.

"We have to encourage more students into the trade space because the manufacturing jobs of the future are in global growth areas like design, biomedical, aerospace, defence, marine and even into the new industrial revolution (industry 4.0) where cyber physical systems like robotics and automation will be populated by more women in the future," she said.

BMA Asset President Adam Lancey said he was proud BMA was supporting the event with tradespeople to help with the welding activities, safety demonstrations and to talk about what a career in mining offers.

"It's inspiring to see the industry changing for the better and more women on the tools," he said.

"We know from our own data that inclusive and diverse teams are safer, more productive and have a stronger culture."

During the two days the students from Mackay Northern Beaches State High, Mackay State High, Sarina State High, Pioneer State High, Mackay North State High schools and St. Catherine's Catholic College, learned about safety, welding machines and techniques and ultimately undertake welding activity.