Australiaâs rail industry is undoubtedly male dominated and more needs to be done to attract the 51% of Australiaâs population who are female. The Women Moving Forward Mentoring (WMF) program is helping to address this issue.
Under contract from the Australian Logistics Council (ALC), the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILTA) will present the third session of WMF starting June 23.
The largest, most effective mentoring program for women in the transport and logistics industry, the program targets the retention and development of women across all sectors of T&L, including rail.
CILTA chief executive Hal Morris told Rail Express that the rail industry has been a strong supporter of the program.
“Rail companies recognise this program has a proven retention and promotion rate amongst their female staff who participate in it,” Morris said.
“CILTA is proud to work with rail companies such as Queensland Rail to address the gender imbalance in this traditionally male-dominated industry.
“We are now seeing a definite shift in the diversity of the workplace with more women taking on non-traditional roles such as train drivers.”
Queensland Rail graduate procurement officer Christina Blanchard participated in WMF and told Rail Express the program provided her with new skills and knowledge that she could use in her career at Queensland Rail.
“The negotiation and influence topic was extremely relevant and interesting to me as I deal with suppliers on a daily basis,” Blanchard said.
“In my section at Queensland Rail I do not have any direct female managers therefore it was great to learn how the style differences in management differ between genders and why gender diversity is important.”
WMF incorporates a high quality, self-paced and cost effective mentoring program and is open to all women in T&L, including rail, undertaking any role, in any region and in any T&L company.
It is now being offered with financial support from the Federal Government and the first 70 participants to register for the upcoming session will receive a government subsidy of $200. This reduces the price for non-CILTA members to $595 and $535.50 for participants who are CILTA members.
Registrations for the June 23 program close June 3.
For more information visit: www.cilta.com.au or email enquiries to: megan.hobson@cilta.com.au