In line with International Women’s Day (IWD) this Wednesday 8 March, the International Federation of Surveyors (FIG) is calling on women for their views on gender diversity in surveying and spatial.
FIG’s Surveyors Working Group 1 are gathering data about the participation of women in the surveying industry and have started an online questionnaire to answer the question, ‘Are women underrepresented in the surveying industry?’
Women involved in a career in surveying or spatial are invited to partake in the survey, which only takes a few minutes to complete.
At Spatial Source we are aware of a number of extraordinary women who are doing amazing things for surveying and spatial. Among many others, are the first female Surveyor General Narelle Underwood, UAV innovator Catherine Ball, CRCSI researcher Dr Suelynn Choy, and Kate Fairlie from Land Equity International (whose feature article on sustainable development appeared in the latest Position Magazine). These women have proven the infinite value that women offer to our sector and the opportunity that a career in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) can offer.
Unfortunately, on the whole men make up the majority of the surveying and spatial sectors, as well as STEM careers more broadly. Much has been written about the shortage of surveyors, however in New South Wales 97% of registered land surveyors are male. Perhaps if more females were encouraged to undertake studies in surveying, that shortage could be avoided, or at the very least stemmed.
In mining, the story is much the same, with AIMS board director Julia Reynolds claiming that “gender diversity in the mining industry has been a tale of female under-representation, particularly in on-site occupations such as mine surveying.”
Have you witnessed this divide yourself? Or do you know women who are doing amazing things for our industry? If so, please let us know.
