Girl Geek Academy secures $4.9 million investment to boost women in tech talent pipeline
Summary
A $4.9 million investment funded under the federal governments Building Womens Careers Program will make sure women in the tech talent pipeline are supported to safely succeed and lead, from young girls in Year 10 right through to women advancing in their tech careers, says Girl Geek Academy co-founder Sarah Moran.The FemTech project was one of 10 projects, announced by Minister for Skills and Training Andrew Giles on Monday, to receive a combined $45 million under the Australian Governments Building Womens Careers Program.As well as Girl Geek Academy, which was founded in 2014 and aims to bring one million women and girls into technology careers by 2030, the FemTech project will bring together organisations including Professionals Australia, TAFE Queensland, Gender Lens Australia, Koorie Women Mean Business, Womens Agenda and Telstra Foundation.Moran told SmartCompany with the tech industry contributing $167 billion to Australias GDP, the nation needs to recruit 52,000 new technology workers annually to maintain competitiveness in the global digital economy.This is not just about educating a few more Girl Geeks this is about the future of our economy, says Moran, whose organisation also started the AI High program last year.We welcome Minister Ed Husics commitment to implementing every recommendation from the Diversity in STEM Review, and his recognition that theres no time to stuff around.Moran added the program is an important first step.But meaningful industry change requires sustained investment and commitment, she says.With the National Gender Equality Strategy Discussion Paper showing that womens underrepresentation costs our economy $30.7 billion, we cant afford to treat diversity as a box-ticking exercise.We look forward to seeing how future funding initiatives will support the full implementation of the Diversity in STEM Review recommendations.The FemTech partnership is a dedicated effort to address our industrys challenges and build womens careers safely. We cant wait to begin recruiting additional partners who want to be involved from across the tech industry and officially launch these courses very soon.The FemTech program, which will receive $4.9 million over three years, will include Tech @ Tafe which will see 224 high school students enrolled in VET digital and tech courses specially designed for women and girls.Twelve cohorts of 168 students will complete a one-unit program and in Years 11 and 12, two cohorts of 28 students will complete a Certificate II in Autonomous Technologies over a one-year period.A Diploma of Applied Technologies course for two cohorts of 28 students will be completed in one year through expedited delivery, to allow women to get back to work or obtain employment as soon as possible.Approximately 500 women working in technology workplaces will participate in gender-based workplace health and safety and professional leadership development programs in response to Girl Geek Academy research that women are not safe at work and that is how they are eventually pushed out of the industry.The union for technology and digital workers, Professionals Australia, in partnership with Gender Lens Australia, will deliver tailored training courses in gender equality, and violence prevention within workplaces, implementing key recommendations of Safe@Work and improving worksite commitment to the duty to prevent sexual harassment at work.Geek Girl Academy will also run SheHacks in 2026 and 2027 to connect emerging women in tech with women in the industry.Moran says too often solutions to the lack of gender diversity in STEM are blamed on girls and women with a focus on programs that aim to fix them.Its clear to us that Girl Geeks dont have to be convinced about STEM careers. But no matter how interested, talented or dedicated they are, they experience attitudes and behaviours designed to freeze or squeeze them out or make them feel uneasy and unsafe. And the incidents are not confined to just one workplace its industry-wide, she says.Being left out and isolated for being Girl Geeks begins in the classroom and discrimination significantly intensifies at university and TAFE, as girls transition to young women.If Girl Geeks are resilient enough to make it into a job, they still risk being excluded or worse, they experience gendered violence in the workplace.Women in Tech are sick of talking about it. They want investment to turn things around and the support for FemTech is a much-needed start to making that happen.In a joint media release with Minister for Skills and Training Andrew Giles on Monday, Senator Gallagher said for too long, the focus has been on fixing women instead of fixing the barriers that hold women back.Building Womens Careers Program will help ensure our plan for a Future Made in Australia delivers better jobs, fairer wages, and greater opportunities for Australian women, she says.SmartCompany contacted Minister for Women Senator Katy Gallaghers office for further comments on the Building Womens Careers Program but didnt receive a response in time for publication.Never miss a story: sign up to SmartCompanys free daily newsletter and find our best stories on LinkedIn.