GIRLS NEED TO SEE WHAT THEY COULD BE

girledworld is excited to announce our national partnership with Virgin Australia for the CmeO International Women's Day 2019 campaign.

The partnership will see girledworld and Virgin Australia activate in multiple workplaces, events and industries across the country and see hundreds of women pledge an hour (or more) of time on Friday March 8 to enable a teenage girl to 'shadow' them at work. Watch the campaign video here.

girledworld CmeO Ambassadors include Libby Armstrong, Holly Ransom, Sushi Das, Anna Leibel, Lisa Leong and many other outstanding female leaders who will spend time sharing their career story and skills and mentoring a teenage girl on the day, and will also feature in the See Me role models mini-documentary being filmed by girledworld and Virgin Australia in major cities across Australia on Friday March 8, 2019.

Women in workplaces across Australia are invited to join the campaign. Learn more here.

The girledworld CmeO IWD2019 Virgin Australia campaign aims to enable teenage girls (aged 15-18 years) to gain real-world workplace education, career mentorship and immersive industry discovery, and to encourage them to pursue future career pathways in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math), Aviation, Media, Politics, Finance, and other industries currently under-represented by females. #balanceforbetter

Engaging young people in immersive work experiences is crucial to informing their choices, opening their frame of reference and equipping them with the entrepreneurial mindsets, 21st Century foundational skill sets, intercultural competence and career self-management skills they will require for the rapidly shifting global future workforce.

"We need to ensure young people today are getting access inside today's workplaces so they can meet real-world mentors, cultivate the transferrable enterprise skills they will need and understand what their future employment and career pathways could look like," says Madeleine Grummet, girledworld Cofounder + CEO and mother of four daughters.

RESEARCH REVEALS GIRLS NEED ROLE MODELS

CmeO is a high-impact, transformative opportunity for girls to access workplace mentors to help them see what they could be. Recent research conducted by girledworld and University of Melbourne Master of Management and Master of International Development postgraduates examined the importance of industry role models in the character development and career pathways of teenage girls (aged 13-18 years).

The research revealed the most powerful determinant of a young girls’ future success is her access to a tribe of visible, capable role models because when girls can identity their own unique emerging strengths and skills, and then see their 'like' abilities and skills reflected in women leading companies, running countries and founding businesses, they are more likely to shift their frame of reference to imagine this as their future selves.

Mentors therefore perform a critical role in teaching and showing girls how to identify and cultivate talents and skills, and feel safe in trying new experiences, so they can lay down foundational career pathway goals early through subject selections and work experience.

The research also showed that a lack of female role models and systemic gender imbalance in the STEM sector contributed to the attrition rate of girls out of STEM subjects, sector-specific work experience selections and a diminishing confidence in pursuing careers in STEM, and that had a compound effect as girls entered the upper years of high school.

"Role models matter. Girls need to see what they could be. It's access that's the critical factor," says girledworld Cofounder and COO Edwina Kolomanski.

"Parents and educators are struggling to provide students with enough insight about the future of work and 21st century careers and skill requirements.

We want to change the way young women view their potential career opportunities and employment pathways, and help them realise how their strengths and interests could lead them into a job in the future. By inviting girls, including those from disadvantaged communities, to explore their interests further and gain insights from leading women across Australian industries, we can help them make informed choices, start building future skills and, hopefully, make their dream jobs a reality."