Page 752 - Week 03 - Tuesday, 21 March 2017
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for social change in this field. We can be the game changers. I call on every person present here in the Assembly and all the people in our community to be bold for change. Each person plays a part, and the responsibility rests with us. Together we can achieve a gender-inclusive community which values, respects and supports women and girls. I present the following statement:
International Women’s Day 2017—Ministerial statement, 21 March 2017.
I move:
That the Assembly take note of the paper.
MS CHEYNE (Ginninderra) (10.29): I too would like to acknowledge the significance of International Women’s Day and relive the recent celebrations. In doing so, I would like to take the opportunity to draw particular attention to an outstanding young Canberra trailblazer. This is a woman whose intelligence, creativity and commitment are nothing short of inspiring. I am talking about Francesca Maclean, the worthy recipient of this year’s ACT Young Woman of the Year award. Francesca is an incredibly talented engineer and scientist. She stands as a reminder of the importance of women in science, technology, engineering and maths, or STEM, and it is fitting that she has been recognised in this way.
Francesca completed her undergraduate studies with a double degree in engineering, majoring in mechanics and materials, and in science, majoring in chemistry. She walked away with first-class honours in engineering and contributed to cutting edge research on Parkinson’s disease. Francesca carried on in academia, undertaking a PhD in tissue engineering at ANU. She has been working to develop biomaterials to control inflammation after brain or spinal cord injury. Francesca is not only applying herself to groundbreaking research that will help our community; she has also committed herself to ensuring that many other bright and talented women join her on the journey.
Francesca is a member of the Canberra global shapers hub, an initiative of the World Economic Forum. Critically, in 2015 she co-founded the ANU fifty50. Fifty50 is a student-led movement that aims to close the gender gap in STEM professions. The organisation is working to get more women into STEM, to help them stay in STEM, and is fighting for equal pay, recognition and opportunities in the STEM workforce. Fifty50 does this through student outreach, mentoring programs, career development, advice and advocacy.
Importantly, the program also highlights the stories of other young women who are defying the stereotypes to pursue study in engineering, IT, maths or science. These women who have gone before are quietly trampling a barely travelled path, carving out a more certain track for those coming behind. Never has this been more important as we embark on an age of exponential technological advancement.
According to the Chief Scientist, in Australia women account for only one in four IT graduates and fewer than one in 10 engineering graduates. Women occupy fewer than one in five senior research positions in Australian universities and research
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