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Female high school students from regional Victoria have been given an exciting opportunity to foster their engagement with Defence and spark potential career ambition.
For the fourth year in a row, students have had the opportunity to participate in an International Women’s Day youth event established by the Defence Work Experience Program team and Land Engineering Agency to foster interest and engagement on science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).
The event provides the young women with practical experience and collaboration with Defence workers to guide a potential pathway into a STEM career within the Department of Defence, such as engineering and technology roles.
National manager of Defence Work Experience Navi Kaur said the students this year were deeply engaged and were enthusiastic about the future prospects of a STEM career in Defence.
“Many expressed excitement about the new skills they learned and the career pathways they were introduced to,” Kaur said.
“Their positive feedback and energy at the end of the day strongly suggests the experience had a meaningful and motivating impact on them.”
The Defence Work Experience Program holds over 300 initiatives around the country every year to assist young people in their career choices and spark interest in Defence roles.
Of the participants this year, students from Broadford Secondary College were especially interested in the hands-on engagement opportunities that the program provided.
“Our girls thoroughly enjoyed everything. They were still buzzing on the way home and eagerly sharing their favourite activities, like the truck tilt, the Hawkei Protected Mobility Vehicle ride, the hot room, and even the lunch got a positive mention,” said the college’s careers and pathways manager, Deb Boyd.
Boyd explained that of the nine students with her, seven came out of the program with a sparked interest in an Australian Defence Force STEM career, with one student specifically wanting to become a combat engineer.
“It was an absolutely sensational opportunity for our girls, and it has planted a seed in many of them.
“They left feeling inspired and had grins on their faces from ear to ear.”
