Breaking barriers for women in STEM

Providing tech opportunities for women in NSW

Meet Jade Bassett, Women in STEM Program Leader and Science Teacher at Rutherford Technology High School, who is actively engaging students in meaningful projects to address social needs. Throughout the program, students learn about inspiring women in STEM around the world, ranging from scientists to engineers, and entrepreneurs.

At the heart of Rutherford’s success is a student-driven, hands-on approach. The Women in STEM initiative begins with 80 high school mentors guiding nearly 100 Stage 3 girls through immersive workshops, from soldering circuits to 3D-printing biomedical prosthetics. The result? A 90% confidence boost among mentees and a surge in STEM engagement across the school.

Senior students take it even further as they are provided opportunities to develop business cases, pitch to investors at the Sydney Start-Up Hub, and collaborate on ambitious projects like a hydrogen-powered car. Over a 10-week immersion, students visit 15 industry sites, shadow professionals, and receive feedback from 30 female CEOs and engineers during the school’s annual Industry Brunch.

Students emerge with a suite of technical and professional abilities that set them apart. They gain hands‑on fluency in microcontroller programming, CAD modelling and data analysis in Python, moving seamlessly from concept to working prototype. 

At the same time, business pitch rehearsals instill entrepreneurial skills that include market research, financial forecasting and persuasive presentation, turning budding engineers into innovators.

Working in fortnightly sprint cycles, they cultivate agile project‑management practices, daily stand‑ups and reflective retrospectives, which sharpen teamwork and time management across all subjects. Perhaps most importantly, mentoring younger students and leading project teams builds resilience and leadership, as learners learn to embrace failure as feedback and also coach others through technical challenges.

Since the program’s launch, female enrolment in STEM subjects has skyrocketed, from 13 to 90 students. Girls are now leading projects, mentoring peers, and enrolling in Physics, Chemistry, Engineering, and Advanced Mathematics. In Year 11 Chemistry alone, 11 of the 14 students are girls, all aspiring STEM professionals.

Even before the first cohort have reached graduation, senior participants are already completing placements and internships. Every prototype, pitch deck and technical report becomes part of a professional portfolio evidence these students will carry into university applications, scholarship interviews and future job opportunities. Regular mentoring with female engineers and accelerators helps them map concrete post‑school pathways in sectors from clean energy to biomedical engineering.

Jade offers these key takeaways:

• Start local: Tackle real-world problems that matter to your community.
• Build partnerships: Collaborate with industry and universities to bring authenticity into learning.
• Measure and adapt: Use feedback loops to refine your program and show impact.
• Prioritise representation: Connect students with relatable role models.