We joined industry partners to celebrate women and progress dialogue on how transportation leaders can inspire the next generation of women in STEM.
In recognition of Women's History Month and International Women's Day this month, we participated in events and celebrations with our partners.
This included sponsorship of the Council for Minority Transportation Officials (COMTO), which honored ten remarkable women who have made contributions to America's transport industry.
We also participated in the US Chamber of Commerce Foundation and US Department of State International Women's Day Forum. The event saw leaders from diverse industries share stories of setbacks and resilience, and how they use their experiences to lift the next generation of women.
As a panellist at this event, we explored initiatives to bring more women into STEM-related careers and shared examples of what our companies do to retain women in the workforce. Watch the recording here.
How we advocate for women in our industry
At Transurban we advocate for greater participation of women in the infrastructure sector and have been recognised for our contributions, including being ranked sixteenth globally by Equileap which assesses more than 4,000 companies globally on criteria including gender balance, gender pay gap and paid parental leave.
More specifically we have higher than average female participation in STEM. As of 2019, women make up 34% of all STEM-related careers and in the transportation industry it's only at 15%. At Transurban, 40% of our employees are in a STEM-related careers. These above-average numbers are due to our focus on increasing female representation in leadership programs, senior roles and ensuring we have a balanced workforce pipeline.
Senior Vice President Virginia Market and Operations Amanda Baxter reflected on her career when participating in the International Women's Day panel.
"As I began my career in STEM, there were very few women in the industry providing guidance at all levels."
"People look for leaders that reflect themselves. At Transurban we have a diverse group of women representing many levels within the organization, including on our Board and senior management level, which we are able leverage in our mentoring programs."
"And we retain our talent by offering flexible working conditions and market-leading parental leave."
"As we celebrate women's history, we need to continue to work towards the future.
With big challenges to tackle across infrastructure, including an $2.59 trillion backlog in transportation investments in the US, we're putting our resources to work through mentoring and internships, cutting edge benefits, community outreach, and new partnerships."
"To invest in the future of infrastructure means to invest in the workforce to build it, and that means not leaving any talent on the sideline."
