Now in its fifth year, the Property Council of Australia’s Girls in Property Program for 2023 has officially kicked off in New South Wales, with over 200 girls of diverse backgrounds from 15 public schools taking part in the program from across Greater Sydney, the Illawarra and Hunter regions.
This year, seven public schools in the Sydney Metropolitan area are taking part in the program, which will enable them to experience and tour world class projects such as 25 Martin Place, Westfield Sydney, the Intercontinental Hotel and Metro Martin Place.
Students will also meet industry leaders and get involved in real life property projects with mentors from the property industry.
Property Council’s Acting Illawarra Director Kelly Jones said it was fantastic to have future generations involved in the program.
“Through this initiative, we hope to raise awareness of female participation in the property industry and provide students with information about a career in property,” Ms Jones said.
“We have a range of wonderful and experienced industry mentors taking part in the Sydney, Illawarra and Hunter programs who will assist the girls to develop a property project in which they will present to their peers later in May and June.
“There just aren’t enough women working in property and construction – with this program we hope to empower these girls to consider the property industry as a career choice, to boost diversity, creativity and innovation for the future.”
Ms Jones said the Property Council of Australia was a true advocate for diversity, equity and inclusion and champions the participation of women in the property industry.
“This program is just another way we can work with industry leaders to support this and provide the opportunities and positive influences that women need to succeed,” she said.
The Property Council’s Girls in Property Program commenced in Sydney at Lendlease Barangaroo on the 2 May 2023, Illawarra at the University of Wollongong’s Innovation Campus on the 4 May with Newcastle at the University of Newcastle to commence on 25 May 2023.
The initiative will also be heading to Western Australia on 13 June and Queensland on 26 July.
The students will take part in a range of activities including:
- Learning about the property and construction industry and hearing from women leaders about their careers
- Understanding more about education options and pathways that can lead to a career in property and construction
- Developing real-life projects with industry members to present to their schools
- A range of industry site tours across Greater Sydney
- Attending an awards event and Property Council Industry Business Lunch.
The seven-participating government schools in the 2023 program are Asquith Girls High School, Riverside Girls High School, Mackellar Girls High School, Randwick Girls High School, Liverpool Girls High School, Auburn Girls High School and Strathfield Girls High School.
Research carried out by Urbis from the program in 2017 and 2018 found that after attending the program, girls were more likely to identify non-traditional roles for women within the property as career options available to them.
When girls were asked to identify what jobs they thought were available to women working in property before the program, common responses included:
- Real Estate (92 per cent of respondents)
- Architecture (80 per cent)
- Interior Design (57 per cent).
When girls were asked the same question after attending the program, a wider range of careers were mentioned including:
- Construction (77 per cent of respondents up from 39 per cent in baseline)
- Planning (72 per cent up from 20 per cent)
- Engineering (66 per cent up from 41 per cent)
- Marketing (50 per cent up from 26 per cent)
- Business (42 per cent up from 24 per cent).