SPE QLD
International Women’s Day Resources
Thank you for attending the SPE IWD event!
Here are the resources that Felicity discussed in her presentation, plus some more that have been useful to support gender equity.
Supporting women at work
What’s Working? Gender Equity: Data Driven Insights for Advancing Diversity
The What's Working? Gender Equity report by WeAspire offers evidence-based insights into effective strategies for advancing gender equity in the workplace. It highlights that addressing bias, promoting diversity, and fostering inclusive cultures are crucial for attracting, hiring, and retaining top talent. This report includes 26 actionable strategies that can affect systemic change.
Key findings emphasise the importance of middle-manager mentorship over senior leadership, the necessity of mitigating unconscious bias in performance evaluations, and the positive impact of gender-diverse teams on innovation and profitability. The report provides actionable recommendations for organisations to implement immediately, aiming to create more equitable and productive work environments.
Access the report and video mini series here.
The future of engineering book
Launching 18 March 2026
Engineering shapes the world, but whose world are we designing for?
For over a century, engineering has been driven by efficiency, control, and optimisation. These values helped build the modern world, but they are no longer enough. As communities fracture, trust erodes, and the consequences of short-term thinking become impossible to ignore, engineers are being asked to do more than deliver projects. Now, more than ever, we must take responsibility for what we leave behind.
The Future of Engineering: Legacy by Design is a call to rethink what it truly means to be an engineer in the 21st century. Drawing on real projects, lived experience, and hard-won lessons from the front lines of infrastructure, leadership, and community engagement, Felicity Furey challenges the idea that engineering is neutral, purely technical, or value-free.
This book explores how inherited standards, assumptions, and cultures shape our decisions, and how those decisions ripple through communities, ecosystems, and generations. From bias embedded in design to the hidden costs of optimising for speed, efficiency, and profit alone, Furey reveals why technical success can still lead to human failure.
This is not a book about blame. It is a book about possibility.
Through practical frameworks, powerful storytelling, and evidence-based insight, The Future of Engineering: Legacy by Design offers engineers, leaders, and decision-makers a new way forward - one that places human wellbeing, care for Country, and long-term legacy at the heart of engineering practice.
This is a book for anyone who has ever delivered a project “to standard” and still felt something was missing. For those who believe engineering can be a regenerative force for good, and for the future engineers who will inherit the world we are designing today.
The future is not shaped by one big decision. Instead, it is shaped by thousands of small ones, made with intention.
Supporting women to lead
Become a Respected Leader
The Respected Leader Scorecard by WeAspire is a practical tool designed to help individuals assess and enhance their leadership capabilities. The scorecard provides a personalised assessment, offering insights into strengths and areas for development. By identifying these areas, individuals can create a tailored action plan to build confidence, gain respect, and achieve recognition as leaders. This approach is particularly beneficial for first-time leaders in high-stakes industries like construction and infrastructure, where effective leadership is crucial.
Get your Respected Leader Score here.
Attracting and retaining Women in stem
People Like Me
The “People Like Me” resource, developed by the UK’s Women’s Engineering Society, is designed to help girls and young women see themselves in STEM careers by shifting the language used to describe those fields. Instead of focusing on technical jargon or job titles, it uses relatable personality-based language to connect personal strengths and interests with real engineering and technology roles. This approach reframes STEM as diverse, creative, and people-oriented - challenging stereotypes that often deter women from entering these industries. By changing how we talk about STEM, the resource makes it more inclusive, accessible, and reflective of the wide range of skills that engineering and science careers truly require.
Power of Engineering
Power of Engineering is an Australian not-for-profit initiative that shifts perceptions of engineering by making it inclusive, engaging, and relevant to the real world. The program inspires students—particularly girls and underrepresented groups—through hands-on activities, real industry challenges, and collaboration with engineers who serve as relatable role models. By using inclusive language and showcasing the human and societal impact of engineering, Power of Engineering broadens understanding of what engineers do and who can become one, helping young people see engineering as a creative, purposeful, and accessible career path.
BBC Documentary - Language for Young Children
In the BBC Two documentary No More Boys and Girls: Can Our Kids Go Gender Free?, Dr Javid Abdelmoneim investigates how deeply ingrained gender stereotypes shape children’s behaviour, confidence, and aspirations. Through a classroom experiment on the Isle of Wight, he challenges traditional gender norms by removing gendered language, toys, and expectations to see if boys and girls develop more equal attitudes and abilities. The documentary reveals how early social conditioning — not biology — drives many of the differences seen between boys and girls, and shows that by changing the messages we give children, we can create a more equal and empowered generation.
Advancing Women in STEM Strategy Snapshot
The Advancing Women in STEM Strategy Snapshot outlines Australia’s national approach to achieving gender equity across science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. It recognises that women and girls face barriers at every stage — from early education through to senior leadership - and aims to close these gaps by building confidence and interest in STEM from a young age, improving workplace culture and career progression, and increasing the visibility of women in STEM. The strategy focuses on three key areas: enabling STEM potential through education, supporting women’s retention and advancement in STEM careers, and making women’s contributions more visible. By addressing systemic bias and the “leaky pipeline,” the strategy positions gender equity as vital not only for fairness, but for Australia’s innovation, competitiveness, and economic growth.
The Invergowrie Foundation Girls in STEM Report
The Invergowrie Foundation Girls in STEM Report highlights the systemic barriers that prevent girls in Australia from pursuing STEM subjects and careers at the same rates as boys. From early childhood, gender stereotypes, low teacher confidence, curriculum limitations, and limited awareness of diverse STEM pathways discourage participation, with girls particularly underrepresented in physics and advanced mathematics — key gateway subjects for tertiary STEM study. The report recommends early interventions, teacher professional development, mentoring and role models, improved career guidance, and stronger school–industry–community partnerships to make STEM more accessible, relevant, and inclusive. It emphasizes coordinated, systemic change rather than isolated programs to close the gender gap and ensure girls can fully realise their STEM potential.
Recommended books and other links
Stop Fixing Women by Catherine Fox
What Works by Iris Bohnet
Primary School Students - https://eajuniorclub.com.au/
Girls in STEM Toolkit - https://www.thegist.edu.au/
Access to the slides
If you would like access to the slide deck please email felicity@felicityfurey.com.