WiT and DCC partner to improve gender equality

Women in Technology QLD (WiT) and Diverse City Careers (DCC) have partnered to raise awareness on gender equality across IT and life sciences.

Through events, digital campaigns, joint research projects, and familiarising with the community's needs, WiT and DCC hope to educate more people about gender inequality women face.

Their first project together will be STEMed, a one day event with interactive workshops for families, sessions on 3D printing, information about startups, gaming, coding, drones, robotics and more. WiT will be hosting the event and DCC is promoting it through its network. STEMed will be held in Brisbane on the 29 May.

DCC director and co-founder Valeria Ignatieva said: "What we are doing for this event is helping to promote it, for example, there are a lot of women who subscribe to our newsletter who will be reached."

A previous event created by DCC in partnership with the Tech Girls Movement, The Superhero Daughter Day, aimed at girls from one to seven years old sold out in two weeks, according Ignatieva.

Ignatieva told CRN that partnerships like this are very important and they would not be able to reach as many people working alone.

"It is through our partnerships that we can amplify our efforts to help organisations build more inclusive workplaces and for women to pursue rewarding careers across any industry," said Ignatieva. 

WiT president Fiona Hayes said: "Addressing the diversity agenda takes the combined efforts of many. Our vision is to advance, connect and empower women in technology and life sciences and we’re excited about collaborating with DCC to achieve greater outcomes for both our communities."

WiT was founded in 1997 with just 10 women and now has passed 3,500 members and affiliates. WiT programs are aimed at all career levels.

DCC promotes gender equality through its jobs board, which requires companies to be pre-qualified in order to advertise. Some of the qualification points include focus on diversity and inclusion, and holders of the Workplace Gender Equality Agency Employer of Choice for Gender Equality qualify automatically. Other points it analyses are support for women within the organisation, how balanced is the recruiting panel, remuneration, reward and recognition systems.