Karen Andrews (McPherson, Liberal Party, Minister for Industry) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for her question and I note the great work that Flinders University is doing through their program Women Branching Out in her electorate of Boothby. This program supports women studying science, technology, engineering and maths subjects by providing role model workshops, leadership skills, to help women in their careers.

As a mechanical engineer who graduated quite a number of years ago through the Queensland University of Technology, I was one of two women in that class. As it turned out, I and the other female there were the first two women ever to graduate from the Queensland University of Technology. Some years later, the figures haven't changed dramatically. What we need to be conscious of is the fact that if we don't encourage more women to study science, technology, engineering and maths—

Mr Hill interjecting—

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