6 March 2025
Use these resources to help remove obstacles to new roles and create safer, more inclusive workplaces. Or turn to these resources for advice on pay and career fulfilment.
While the sector has come a long way in recent years, there’s still much more work to be done to achieve gender equality. These 5 resources offer ways of getting us there.
Are you a member of the Concrete Institute of Australia (CIA) or looking for a reason to become one? You’d have the additional benefit of joining their community and technical forum for women.
The CIA’s Women in Concrete is about supporting women members of CIA. It also aims to make the CIA itself more inclusive and accessible to women.
Women in Concrete gives you the chance to connect with other women in the sector. You can further expand your professional networks though their regular meet and greets.
They also host regular free webinars showcasing those that have paved the way for women working in the concrete sector. One of their webinars featured our very own board chair Elizabeth Taylor.
Why they’re underrated
There’s nothing quite like connecting with women who once forged the path you’re now on. You won’t find more relevant support for concrete professionals. Plus you get a free tote.
What don’t NAWIC do for women in construction? They advocate, lobby for change, educate individuals and companies, and offer ways for women to connect.
NAWIC make many of their resources available to members and non-members alike. And with chapters in every state, you get face-to-face opportunities across the country.
Their online and in-person events include networking at the pub or at high tea. They also run site tours of major construction projects, small business info sessions and personal and career development sessions.
Their mentorship programs give you an even higher level of support.
Why they’re underrated
With their huge amount of publicly accessible goodies, you don’t have to be a member to use them as a resource. Find gold in their podcast, blog and journal—all free and available online.
Engineers Australia’s community group for women is going to make engineering more inclusive.
When Women in Engineering are not identifying strategies and recommending actions to increase women’s participation in Engineers Australia, they’re running free and paid events.
Sign up for functions such as Accelerate Action (Melbourne, 19 March) for addressing barriers. Or put your name down for their Women in Engineering Forum (Adelaide, 21 March) for connecting and inspiring.
Why they’re underrated
Engineers Australia recognises the limited career development opportunities for women in this space. That’s why they strongly encourage women engineers with over 15 years’ experience to apply to become fellows.
Looking for a colleague, mentee, expert opinion or collaborator? STEM Women is an online directory of qualified women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
Their directory lets you search and view profiles and achieve more gender diversity in your team.
Alternatively, if you’re a woman in STEM seeking career opportunities, their directory boosts your discoverability.
They also give you a place to search other career advancing opportunities such as guides, scholarships, events and coaching.
Launched by the Australian Academy of Science, the initiative has taken off in Australia. Now they’ve launched their global version, connect women with opportunities both within and beyond our shores.
Why they’re underrated
STEM Women is free to use, both for people using the directory to search for women and women wanting to create a profile.
If standards are the ultimate resource for design engineers, they’re even more essential to turning sustainable innovations into real world applications.
Given our goal of supporting industry to adopt concrete innovations, we feel strongly that standards are a vehicle to reducing carbon emissions, improving circularity, and much more.
Yet with only 5% of Standards Australia committee representatives being women, it’s little wonder we find ourselves living in a man’s world.
This over-representation of men can lead to unconscious biases in our products, process and services—prioritising men’s needs over women’s.
We’re hoping to see Standards Australia’s Diversity Action Plan transform their committees to be more diverse and inclusive. Keep an eye on them for more progress towards these ends, such as their recent event Women in Standards.
Why they’re underrated
Standards Australia are the unsung heroes of keeping our built environment safe. We call on more women in concrete and construction to become part of standards committees and help create a built environment that’s inclusive for all.
We are proud to engage with all 5 organisations and look forward to doing more work together towards improving gender representation in concrete.
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