The next generation of female IT professionals will get a head start this International Women’s Day thanks to a boost from Australia’s largest software as service (SaaS) company TechnologyOne, and Queensland based not-for-profit UNIQ YOU.

  • Women make up just 29% of those employed in technology in Australia, compared to 47.5% in similar occupations in the professional, scientific, and technical services (PST) industry*.
  • TechnologyOne will partner with Queensland not-for-profit UNIQ YOU to boost female participation in tech.
  • Across Queensland, UNIQ YOU is a career advisory service which aims to connect 600 girls from 30 Qld schools with advisors working in industries such as tech, construction, mining, transport, agriculture, manufacturing, aviation, and utilities.

22 Mar 2022 – Partnering with UNIQ YOU, TechnologyOne will provide advisors to provide high school students with real life experience and industry insights to inspire female participation in the technology sector.

With females making up less than a third* of those employed in the technology industry, Maree Gallagher, EVP of TechnologyOne’s People and Culture team said it was vital to develop a diverse pipeline of talent into the future.
“We are incredibly excited to join with UNIQ YOU in helping young women explore career opportunities in technology,” Ms Gallagher said.
“We know that a diverse workforce means a more sustainable, higher achieving and productive workplace – It is key to our success not just as a company but as an industry.
“Connecting our digital leaders directly with high school students through UNIQ YOU will mean we are able to provide one-on-one guidance for a career pathway into technology.”
“At TechnologyOne we create software for communities, so we believe our workforce should also be reflective of the communities we work with.”
“If we are truly to become a leading technology nation, we need to bring the whole of our population with us, by making sure we are giving every person the opportunity to reach their career potential.”
As part of the partnership, UNIQ YOU will also be working alongside TechnologyOne to identify key regions and priorities to ensure engagement across a variety of demographics.
“We recognise there are also other areas of diversity and inclusion that are a priority for our organisation, so we want to provide this opportunity to girls of all backgrounds and encourage early interest in the tech industry,” Ms Gallagher said.
UNIQ YOU’s CEO Tanya Meessmann said the program gave female students the opportunity to explore different pathways in typically male dominated field via one-on-one advisory calls.
“If we want to see true gender equality in all workforces within our lifetime, we need to look at how we can expand the number of women in industries where they are underrepresented,” Ms Meessmann said.
“Careers fairs and one-off events that cater to 30 or 60 or even 100 young women are not going to be remotely enough. We need a way to connect with and encourage hundreds or even thousands of young women into these areas.”
“With partners like TechnologyOne we can help girls discover unique and interesting opportunities available to them through the UNIQ YOU website and direct advice.”
Within its first year UNIQ YOU aims to connect students with over one hundred female advisors from a range of industries and/or roles under-represented by women.
* Source - (ACS Australia’s Digital Pulse 2021)

Media contact
Amity Sturwohld
Corporate Affairs Manager
+61 439 646 389
amity_sturwohld@technologyonecorp.com

About TechnologyOne

TechnologyOne (ASX: TNE) is Australia’s largest enterprise Software as a Service (SaaS) company and one of Australia’s top 100 ASX-listed companies, with offices across six countries. Our enterprise SaaS solution transforms business and makes life simple for our customers by providing powerful, deeply integrated enterprise software that is incredibly easy to use. Over 1,200 leading corporations, government departments and statutory authorities are powered by our software.

Our global SaaS solution provides deep functionality for the markets we serve: local government, government, education, health and community services, asset intensive industries and financial services. For these markets we invest significant funds each year in R&D. We also take complete responsibility to market, sell, implement, support and run our solutions for our customers, which reduce time, cost and risk.