The manufacturing and engineering sector continues to experience significant gender inequity. Unfortunately, this isn’t a new challenge. Despite efforts to increase women’s participation, retention rates remain low – too low.
Chisholm Institute, in partnership with Women’s Health in the South East (WHISE) and the South East Melbourne Manufacturers Alliance (SEMMA), has published the ‘Nice Work If You Can Get It’ Report (launched through a project of the same name) to tackle the cultural and structural barriers that have excluded women from manufacturing careers.
Our Gender Impact Assessment found that women are still impacted by sexism, gender segregation, and social isolation in manufacturing education, training and beyond.
If you can see it, you can be it
A lack of visible representation directly impacts our talent pipeline. While gathering insights for our Report a student explained, "Having another woman in the industry to talk to has been a game changer – otherwise, I would have left." Young women in training are less likely to pursue careers in manufacturing and engineering without seeing real-world examples of success.
When women don’t see themselves reflected —whether in leadership roles, technical positions, or on the tools—it can send a message that they don’t belong or are less capable.
While the support and creation of gender-equal apprenticeship pathways is a responsibility of vocational education, it's only successful in partnership with industry. Collaborating with industry is essential to breaking down silos and driving cultural change.
So, what does this look like in practice? Start by identifying a small, manageable activity that fits your organisation’s capacity, then scale up as time and resources allow. For example, you could establish a joint advisory group, host a networking or speaking event, or set up regular meetings to exchange knowledge and insights.
Facilitating honest conversations
Increasing women’s participation in manufacturing and engineering requires a whole of organisation approach. At Chisholm, we focused on building an inclusive culture led by our leadership team. This included mandatory gender equity training, integrating gender equity into staff events and meetings, and offering peer support and mentoring opportunities.
This cultural shift led to a marked improvement in student retention and overall staff engagement. Facilitating honest conversations at your organisation could be as simple as holding a discussion about gender biases at your workplace. This gives people the opportunity to share ideas in a casual setting.
The Nice Work If You Can Get It Report is a helpful resource for businesses. Created in partnership with industry, it offers a scalable model for tackling gender inequality through evidence-based strategies, capacity building, and cultural change initiatives.
By embedding gender equity into programs and partnering with industry, we can work together to pave the way for long-term change.
Written by Matthew Baker, Engineering Manager at Chisholm Institute for the Australian Industry Group Centre for Education and Training
