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Establishing the Baseline: Focus Group Invite

As part of the research project Women in Subsea Engineering: Establishing the Baseline currently being undertaken through the Maureen Bickley Centre for Women in Leadership at Curtin University we would like to invite you to participate in a second focus group about your experience in the subsea sector. The details of the focus group are shown below and we would love your input to help with this important research.

WISE Mentoring Program – a project update

On 14th September 2017 SEA launched the first of 2 workshops introducing mentors to mentees and setting the scene for our first SEA/WISE mentorship program.

Arvind Chetty and Frances Eaton address the Mentors.

Now we have led the horses to water, so to speak, how can we assist in getting them to drink? This was the main goal of the workshop. Both Frances Eaton and Arvind Chetty introduced some key principles on how to make the relationship work.

Start with the basics

It is all about engagement. Mentoring relationships, just like any other relationship, need commitment, communication and preparation.

Frances explained that the first step to engagement between mentor and mentee is to have both parties on the same page and believing in the viable success of the partnership. Using their detailed workbook, the mentors and mentees paired off to discuss the following:

Objectives must be defined

The attendees were asked to discuss the who and the why. Who are you, what brought you to seek a mentor/mentee, what drives you and what are your goals as well as why ….why are we meeting and what do we want to accomplish? If both mentor and mentee understand their roles and duties, they will understand that this mentorship has a purpose to achieve.

Timing is everything

As both participants are busy people, there need to be clearly defined times to meet and those times need to be adhered to. We asked the attendees to be realistic with the time frame they set and for the mentee to develop leadership in following up and driving the engagement dates and times.

Keep up with progress

Mentees and mentors should track the progress made in the relationship, not only for the ROI for the program, but to insure the partnership is productive. Frances explained that like any partnership, if there is no ‘chemistry’ and the relationship isn’t working out there is always a “no fault reassignment policy” to ensure both parties can continue mentoring.

Feedback should be encouraged and expected

This relationship is about achieving progress. Feedback and guidance should factor into that regularly.

A mentoring relationship is a highly functioning relationship that can achieve results if flowing smoothly. Arvind indicated that he has been a mentor for many years and feels he has learned as much from his mentees as he hoped they learned from him. It is important to understand that as long as both parties are clear on what they need to achieve, when they are going to achieve it, and how they will go about doing so, the mentorship will perform well.

For more information about our program and the next intake, please contact Frances or check out the main SEA website.

Industry Survey Launch | What gets measured, gets done!

Last week, the WISE initiative to undertake a study to establish base line data for women’s participation in the subsea oil & gas industry in WA was officially announced at an industry gathering attended by 65 interested professionals.

The call is out! WISE is seeking your support in a number of ways - 

  1. Volunteers to participate in focus groups
  2. Commitment from companies to participate in the survey – Curtin University will require companies to fill out a survey regarding on gender representation. Companies with no females employed in STEM professions may also participate.
  3. Funding to carry out the survey – Sponsorships from companies will receive public acknowledgement in all related publications, online platforms and public presentations (2018 AOG). Contributions from individuals are also highly encouraged – every $50 counts towards launching the survey.

Please let us know if you are able to assist in options  1 or 2 of these support areas by filling in our expression of interest form.  You can contribute financially via our Chuffed.org campaign.

Associate Professor Linley Lord, Director of the Maureen Bickley Centre for Women in Leadership (Curtin Graduate School of Business) delivered an enlightening presentation describing the aims and objectives of the work. Her slides contain an excellent summary of the information she shared:

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WISE needs your support to make this possible! Every $50 or $100 donation will count to us being able to get this survey done.

Sign up to support the survey!

All sponsors and individual cash contributions will be mentioned in the:

  • Curtin University report
  • On the WISE website
  • In 2018 AOG publications and presentations
  • In reporting to the Australian Government
  • In reporting to Senator Michaela Cash

Principal partners ($5000 or above) will receive prime branding and special mention.

Subsea Industry Survey: Towards Gender Parity

Over the past 20 years, the proportion of Australian women with a bachelor’s degree has more than doubled. In the same period, the gender pay gap has not budged. Australia ranks 46th on the Global scale. Our full-time gender pay gap is 15.3%, women earn on average $251.20 per week less than men. Western Australia has the widest gender pay gap at 22.8%.

Needless to say, there is room for improvement.

Subsea Energy Australia and the Women In Subsea Engineering (WISE), with the support of the Australian Government, are initiating a study to quantify this gap for the Subsea oil and gas industry. We have prepared a prospectus for why you should get involved. 

Register for the survey

We really need your support, both financial and through participation.  Please share with your networks, colleagues and organisation’s key decision makers as well.

Development opportunities – A program update

As part of our Framework, WISE is committed to developing female engineers working in or wanting to work in the subsea industry. Our journey of awarding valuable professional development opportunities started six months ago when we were awarded the Women in STEM and Entrepreneurship Grant from the Department of Industry, Innovation and Science.

Since then, WISE has awarded 18 different development opportunities to over 35 females including students, young professionals and professionals in senior roles. Each recipient has reported back to the wider WISE Network through our LinkedIn group, in an effort to continue sharing knowledge and transferring skills. 

Supporting women to participate in training and skills development is a key way to increase the variety of roles accessible to female students and engineers. Programs like this are crucial in an period when the industry is experiencing a downturn and therefore the employers are cutting costs for opportunities like training.

SUT ETM: Subsea Controls, Renewables and Compression

SEA Masterclass: Contracts in the Subsea Industry

Subsea Energy Australia Masterclass Series on Risk Management

Based on the feedback we have received, we have summarised the key benefits that the WISE professional development opportunities are bringing to our members:

1. It can sharpen knowledge

Refreshing knowledge through seminars and events can help stay updated on the knowledge obtained when an individual was a student and on the hands-on skills they have acquired on the job. This is an extremely important benefit for both, females looking to re-enter the workforce and for the ones seeking a new role.

2. Build confidence and credibility

Female engineers in a male dominated environment often struggle with building and displaying confidence. By attending professional development opportunities, they can build confidence in the work they do and it also helps them to build credibility as they continue to gain new skill sets and certificates.

3. Develops new skills

Whether wanting to grow in current position or move to a leadership role, taking professional development courses will provide women with a competitive edge. These programs are an easy way to gain important knowledge quickly.

4. Re-connecting with the industry, networking and meeting new contacts

Attending seminars and courses presents the opportunity to meet other like-minded professionals who might become valuable contacts in the future. This is especially important for women wanting the re-connect with the industry after a longer period of leave as they can gain visibility and establish new contacts.

5. Connecting students and the industry

As many graduates are struggling to find work due to increasing competition and fewer opening for new recruits, by attending development opportunities, they can develop new skills that will set them apart from the competition and establish relationships with subsea professionals who might help guiding their career path.

The skill development opportunities were selected as they focused on both technical and professional skills development. Here is a summary of the development opportunities availed:

Our mission is to make a difference and a positive impact on as many female engineers as we can reach. By getting them involved in development, training and connecting them to a supportive community of individuals walking the same gravel path we can influence the bigger picture and contribute to the economic development of the Australian subsea industry.

Professor Linley Lord on Measuring Success

There has been considerable focus both nationally and internationally on increasing the number of women studying STEM and pursuing STEM related careers. However we know from research that women are more likely to face a range of challenges in building long term careers in STEM. Many organisations have put in place strategies and initiatives with varying degrees of success to address the challenges that lead to women’s continued underrepresentation in STEM careers.

One of the particular challenges facing the subsea sector is the lack of sector data that is available to establish an industry baseline in WA and to provide an understanding of women’s experience in this sector. This makes it difficult to measure the success or otherwise of particular initiatives aimed at addressing women’s underrepresentation.

On the 17th of October, we will be presenting a proposal the subsea community of Australia, our aim is to collect key data from industry that will act as the benchmark for the sector. This will enable progress to be measured. It also has the potential to act as an attractor to the sector for women in STEM as best practice initiatives that are making a difference are also identified.

Join WISE on Tuesday 17th of October from 11.45am – 1.30pm at Curtin’s St Georges Terrace facility.  A light lunch will be provided and there will networking opportunities before and after.

Spaces are limited, RSVP now.

Linley Lord is an Associate Professor and the Chair of Academic Board at Curtin University. She is Deputy Lead of Curtin’s Athena SWAN Project and the Director of the Maureen Bickley Centre for Women in Leadership (MBC) at Curtin’s Graduate School of Business. The MBC was established in March 2008 within the Curtin Graduate School of Business to promote and enable the increased representation of women in leadership roles.

Linley’s current research interests include women in non-traditional areas of employment, women’s experience in leadership roles, and women on boards. She is a member of the Chamber of Minerals and Energy (WA) Gender Diversity Reference Group and has been a sessional member of the State Administrative Tribunal since its inception in 2005.

Prior to her academic career, Linley gained considerable experience as a change agent through appointments which included Project Officer for Equal Employment Opportunity focusing on Local Government (WA). She was the first Equal Opportunity Coordinator for the West Australian Fire Brigades Board (now FESA) and was the national Equal Opportunity Manager for the Reserve Bank of Australia.

For Professor Lyn Beazley, science is a lifelong passion.  After graduating from Oxford and Edinburgh, Lyn has dedicated over 30 years to neuroscience, researching recovery from brain injury and changing clinical practice in the treatment of premature infants.  As Western Australia’s Chief Scientist from 2006 to 2013, Lyn advised governments on science and innovation, worked closely with industry and was a science ambassador in Australia and internationally. Lyn has been determined to demonstrate that science is not just a theoretical exercise, but a practical one too.  She helped establish a nationwide ‘hotline’ for school laboratory technicians, worked for healthier waterways by establishing Dolphin Watch, spearheaded a program supplying microscopes to over 450 primary schools and introduced the international science communication competition Famelab to Australia. Lyn was also part of the negotiating team that ensured Australia would co-host the Square Kilometre Array of radio-telescopes, the world’s largest science endeavour. Lyn’s goal is for every Australian child to learn and love science.

 

Why we need to encourage more women to go into fields of STEM

If you asked my 7-year-old daughter what she wants to be when she grows up, she would quickly answer that she wants to be a teacher. If you asked my 9-year-old son what he wants to be when he grows up, he would proudly tell you that he wants to be an engineer. These answers make sense considering that my daughter loves reading books and taking care of her Bratz doll while my son enjoys looking up science experiments and making bottles explode with Mentos.

What’s so wrong about this story? After all, we need teachers as much as we need engineers. Besides, what a child wants to be when he or she is in primary school isn’t necessarily indicative of their future career choices... right?

Image Courtesy: Caroline Hernandez

Fast-forward eight more years. In 2017, the trend that started in primary school that encourages girls to go into the humanities and boys to go into engineering and mathematics has prevailed throughout high school, college, and well into the workplace. The stereotypes we ingrain into our children at as early an age as four or five don’t just magically disappear when they get older. Instead, those stereotypes strengthen as children grow older and continue to explore the society that continually reinforces these stereotypes.

This is why it so important that we encourage more women to go into the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Fewer and fewer female students are enrolling in physics and technology classes as the years go by. So, why is it so important to encourage more women to go into STEM fields? In a country in which the average women still earns 77 cents for every dollar that a man earns, and in a country in which the majority of single parents are single mothers, getting more women into STEM could both reduce the gender wage gap and ensure that single mothers don’t have to struggle to put food on the table. Not only are there currently more jobs in STEM than in any other industry, but most of these high-tech jobs are high-paying, as well.

Can we do anything to help the gender gap in STEM? Yes, yes we can. If girls see that most of their female mentors and older female friends aren’t going into STEM, they are less likely to go into those fields themselves. Part of the reason behind this phenomenon is the stereotype threat, which states that if we are aware of a stereotype, we are more likely to act in accordance with it. In order to help our young girls to not be afraid of STEM fields such as engineering, older girls and young women need to show that we are not afraid of these fields ourselves.

Individually, we can’t change the fact girls make up a very small percentage of the engineers, and scientists shown on television and in movies. What we can do, however, is make a difference in the lives of the young girls we know personally. And one day, the young girls we help will grow up to cure diseases, write computer programs, discover the next technological advances, and ultimately change the world.

About the Author

Frances Eaton is Subsea Energy Australia's Executive Officer. Frances has over 25 years experience in a variety of leadership roles in Europe and Australia.She has provided consulting and executive development support to organisations, joint ventures and alliances engaged in strategic, HR and leadership development initiatives. Connect with her via LinkedIn.

The Innovators’ Tea Party

 

WISE was proud to support this year’s Innovators’ Tea Party held over the weekend. Below is a fabulous report-back from our Committee Member and  Sarolta Pudney, originally published on her LinkedIn blog.

Inspiring more young West Australian girls to pursue careers in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics

The Innovators’ Tea Party is an event that links women working in STEM with high school students in engaging, speed-networking events. The mentors are selected from a range of industries and backgrounds and are passionate about telling their stories and promoting their fields to students in years 10-12.

The Engineering session at this years Innovators’ Tea Party was sponsored by Women In Subsea Engineering(WISE), an initiative that is dedicated to increasing the visibility of female engineers and connecting people committed to achieving gender parity within the subsea sector.

As part of WISE, I was lucky enough to be selected as one of the mentors for the Engineering session and share my experiences, learning and stories with a number of students.

While preparing for this event, I asked myself what is the most valuable piece of information I can share with these young girls who are about to make a decision that will define their future? What advice do I wish I had received when I was a year 12 student? After some reflection on my career path, I realised that the most valuable insight I can share is this – It is okay not to exactly know what you want to be at this point! Choose a field of study that is suited to your strengths and you will be surprised with the places it can take you!

When I enrolled in my Electrical Engineering studies I didn’t even know the subsea industry existed. I entered it by chance, and now, 3 years later, here I am, absolutely in love with what I do! Receiving this piece of advice would have saved me a lot of stress and anxiety caused by not having a clear career path.

When choosing studies, our whole future career seems black and white, and we tend to get caught up in small details. We focus too much on trying to figure out what we exactly want to be doing 10 years down the track. However, at 18 it is extremely difficult to see the full spectrum of opportunities out there – and therefore pursuing them becomes impossible. If we choose a field that plays to our strengths, and within that field a speciality that seems appealing and interesting, without stressing about picturing ourselves in our future roles, we might become aware of a whole new world of opportunities out there – and fall in love with one of them!

Personally, I find it extremely important to participate and help organisations like The Innovators’ Tea Party,Women In Subsea Engineering (WISE) and many others, because by making our career path visible to young students we get the opportunity to open their eyes to all the hidden but amazing places they can end up in their careers.

Sarolta PudneyAbout the Author

 | Project Engineer / 3.4u Subsea Inspection Engineer at Intervention Engineering

Calling out Financial Bias and Imbalance

As part of CEDA's Women in Leadership series, WISE Coordinator Allison Selman took a cohort of subsea industry leaders to 'Calling out financial bias and imbalance' , CEDA has kindly availed the recordings to the WISE Community.

The following presentations were recorded at Frasers Kings Park, on Thursday, 15 June 2017. They are reposted here with permission.

On 15 June, representatives from the subsea industry demonstrated leadership in supporting the initiative led by the Women in Subsea Engineering (WISE) professional network, to work towards achieving gender parity in the industry, by attending the CEDA Women in Leadership series lunch on the topic of Calling out Financial Bias and Imbalance within Australia.

Joining WISE Founder Allison Selman at the WISE corporate table was Frances Eaton (Executive Officer, Subsea Energy Australia), Morgan Harland (General Manager Subsea and Pipelines, Woodside), Mark Donnelly (ABU FE Pipelines Team Lead, Chevron Australia), Helena Forsyth (Principal Subsea Operations Engineer, INPEX), Dermot O’Brien (Project Delivery Manager, Atteris), Elizabeth Lindahl (Wood Group Studies Director, Wood Group), Peter Mann (Executive Consultant, Advisian and IntecSEA), John Loughridge (Executive Vice President, DOF Subsea) and Guillaume Allegret (Engineering Manager, Subsea Projects-Oceania, TechnipFMC).

Author and Media Personality Tracey Spicer kicked off the afternoon as the Keynote Speaker. Tracey spoke about her personal experience and learnings from advancing her career within the Media Industry. She spoke about how the working environment established by leaders of organisations has a direct impact on the culture for inclusiveness.

Andrew Hagger, the Chief Customer Officer of National Australia Bank spoke next about the NAB Diversity and Inclusion policy and how Diversity leads to improved business performance. He spoke about the initiatives implemented by NAB to work towards their gender diversity targets. These included flexible work practices, eliminating bias in recruitment protocols, establishing fair and equitable management processes, ensuring equitable remuneration and fostering a working environment free for discrimination, harassment, vilification or victimisation.

Mary Delahunty, General Manager for Business Development and Policy for HESTA followed to provide probably the most entertaining presentation that is possible on the topic of superannuation. Mary spoke passionately about the Australian superannuation system and how it disadvantages women by its focus on duration in the workforce. Her statistics show that many women are facing “retirement poverty” due to the current structure of the superannuation system, despite working for the majority of their professional lives. For the women who have not joined the workforce, a situation of “financial dependency” is created.

The final speaker was Professor Cobie Rudd, the Deputy Vice Chancellor of Edith Cowan University, who only recently returned from the Global STEM Gender Equality Congress in Berlin. Professor Cobie spoke about the factors contributing to the Australian gender pay gap. The biggest factors are sexual discrimination and years not working (interruptions), followed by gender imbalance at an industry or job level, age, share in part-time employment and tenure with an employer.

A panel discussion ensued, in which the speakers answered questions that were primarily focussed on actions that could be taken by individuals and organisations. Attendees were encourage to have the courage to look within their organisations and address any issues in a transparent way, that bad behaviour should never be tolerated and should be addressed and that a diverse leadership team always leads to a better, more balanced decision.

As the National focus on diversity and inclusion grows, WISE plans to support and promote women within the subsea industry, for the benefit of individuals, organisations and the industry as a whole. We are proud that key subsea industry organisations are demonstrating leadership and support in this area.

WISE will be launching the first in-depth survey on women participating in non-traditional Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) professions within the subsea industry and invite expressions of interest from all organisations to participate. Please contact WISE for more details and to register to participate.

The CEDA Women in Leadership Series  has kindly availed the presentations and panel discussion from this event to the WISE community. 

A nautically themed report on the exquisitely organised event by ECU’s Women in Engineering (WiE)

On Tuesday Jun-10, WISE Task Force members, Sarolta Pudney and Dave Flanery represented WISE at Edith Cowan University’s Women in Engineering (WiE) networking cruise. Dave reports below.wise-n-co

As the cool evening breeze drifted across Perth’s newly revamped Elizabeth Quay, cruise-goers were warmly welcomed by WiE’s executives. The evening kicked off with a welcome speech by WiE President, Breanna Cameron. After an icebreaker, the cruise roared into full steam with enthusiastic networking between students, recent graduates and industry professionals.

The engineering students’ backgrounds were a mix of civil, mechanical, electrical, mechatronic and computer science – all poised and ready to get started in the subsea industry! Despite the alluring sweets table and sea-legs bar, WISE members stayed on task to encourage the young women (girls?) of WiE to pursue exciting careers in the subsea energy sector.

As the evening rolled on, the event’s main sponsor, Defence Force Recruiting, provided an all-female group of presenters to inspire attendees to try a career in an industry dominated by males – brave women indeed. With the theme communication, their stories included personal motivations and the challenges they faced pursuing their dreams. Parallels to subsea energy abound.

We met so many bright, enthusiastic students, who promise to stay engaged with WISE in the months to come as they near graduation and beyond.

David Flanery is Business Development Manager for Deepwater Australasia, a specialist in subsea installation and corrosion control, he also sits on the Subsea Energy Australia board and is an active task force member for WISE.

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