Speakers Program - More About the Problem

Small teams of Swinburne students (all fully trained in presentation skills) go out to Melbourne schools and give interactive presentations on areas of study that may be unfamiliar to senior secondary school girls. Since 1998, the Program benefited from having young female graduates from IBM participate as speakers alongside Swinburne students.

The speakers give the students a snapshot of their lives. They talk about the influences they've had, what it was like for them when they faced subject and career choices in secondary school, and tell of the obstacles that they have managed to overcome.

The thread that unites all the speakers is working or studying in areas where women are under-represented. In 2003, the speakers had backgrounds in aviation, biochemistry, biotechnology, biochemical engineering, business, chemical engineering, engineering, information systems, information technology, multimedia, photonics, psychophysiology, robotics, software engineering, telecommunications and internet technology and more.

"It is definitely an invaluable program and it's exciting to see so many women working on it together. I was lucky in that I received a lot of support from my family and teachers, but not everyone has that. This program helps us reach those who need the encouragement."

Belinda Wong, IBM