NSW Women’s Week Puts Women in Surveying on the Map

International Women’s Day is March 8^th 2019, and all this week New South Wales has been celebrating it by marking NSW Women’s Week.

For the surveying industry, the focus was on Wednesday March 6^th, with the inaugural Women In Surveying Event, hosted by the Association of Consulting Surveyors NSW with the NSW Surveying Taskforce.

The day was a chance for female school students from all around the state to put their love of maths, geography, IT and other STEM subjects to the test, to discover just what a career path in surveying might look like for them. The hope was that the event would inspire, excite and engage the students – and it certainly appeared that it did just that!

Read on to discover what the day involved, and how the event put surveying on the map in the media.

Surveying the field

Starting at ANZAC Memorial in Sydney’s Hyde Park for some engaging and challenging Maths in Surveying challenges set up by registered surveyor Ian Iredale.

The line-up of activities were received enthusiastically by the students. Including tasks that involved navigation, estimating the height of the ANZAC Monument and measuring distances, the girls had the run of Hyde Park as they took to each aspect of the exercise with gusto.

From the very beginning, the stature of the event was apparent, with special guest attendee NSW Governor General David Hurley on hand to welcome the girls. He was joined by the NSW Surveyor-General Narelle Underwood, who would go on to address the attendees at the Hyde Park Memorial and explain the role that surveyors played in the recent Memorial Centenary Project (you can read up on that here).

The day would see even more surveyors offer the students their expertise and insights when the proceedings moved to Doltone House for a delicious three-course lunch. There, some of the state’s most prominent female surveyors took to the microphone to discuss what a career in surveying entails – the challenges, the excitement and the rewards!

Stepping into the media spotlight

This exciting opportunity for female students in NSW didn’t have a problem inspiring the press – it’s clear that now is the time to be talking about women in surveying!

The Sydney Morning Herald highlighted the Women in Surveying event and wrote about STEM opportunities for young women, placing the magnifying glass on surveying and surveying work experience by quoting NSW Surveyor-General Narelle Underwood. The story was also picked up outside New South Wales, by the Brisbane Times, demonstrating that this is a topic that’s relevant right across the country. You can read the Sydney Morning Herald piece here.

Closer to some of the student attendees’ homes, the Northern Daily Leader reported on the pilgrimage made by Tamworth students to Sydney for the event. As quoted in the Leader, student Chelsea Willey said the day “really opened my eyes” to what surveying could offer her, adding that she, “Hadn’t really thought of it as a career option before, but I would definitely like to look into it further now.” The article is available here.

The event wasn’t just covered in print. Narelle Underwood was interviewed on ABC Radio and talked about why it is that surveyors are considered the nicest people on site at any construction project!

A successful day

We will continue to bring you more information about this inspiring event, including videos, vox pops and photos. Until then, if you would like to learn more about how to study surveying head here, and if you want to investigate work experience opportunities visit this page.