“International Women’s Day is not just about acknowledging the inequalities that exist in the world for women, it is about empowering each other. This annual event recognises the importance of taking the time to support your friends, to be kind, yet powerful.” Ava Colosimo, School Co-Captain 2023. 

During our International Women’s Day Assembly this week, we welcomed St Catherine’s Alumnae, Miss Monica George (’01). Monica enjoyed her time as a boarder at School and like so many experiences for young women, she too was inspired by an Old Girl who spoke at School Assembly. The power and inspiration of our Old Girls as role models – women who have walked the same floorboards as our current students – is always significant. It can in fact shape whole careers. 

In Australia this year, International Women’s Day celebrates Cracking the Code: innovation for a gender equal future. This theme highlights the role that bold, transformative ideas, inclusive technologies, and accessible education can play in combating discrimination and the marginalisation of women globally. Innovation is considered a key driver of change, together with the opportunity to embrace new technologies, skills and knowledge enable women to accelerate towards a gender equal future.  

Following completion of her civil engineering degree at the University of Melbourne, Monica has enjoyed a 25-year career in engineering. She is currently the Manager – Urban Development (Victoria) at GHD and is an advocate for creating programs that offer exposure to STEM roles and experiences available for girls to pursue, while eliminating misconceptions about what it means to work in engineering. 

Monica highlighted the Engineers Australia Report, released in 2022, that identified “encouraging high-school level students to study STEM subjects at school as an important element of getting more women into STEM fields.” As such, Monica encouraged our students to pursue the challenges of Mathematics but admitted to always placing herself in the “I am not good at Maths” category all too often during her schooling years. She only realised she was good at Mathematics after continual and determined practice.  

Monica also shared with our Senior School students her joy of combining the creative elements of design, with the specific detail required for her diverse experiences across a range engineering roles. She spoke of her nine-month experience volunteering in Fiji and the important consideration of the ‘end-user’ in elements of design. One example included improving the lack of ventilation in household kitchens for Fijian woman. This was a problem that had been overlooked and made difficult by the reluctance of Fijian women to say anything or raise the issue. 

Monica described being increasingly frustrated by the lack of women in engineering courses but understands her broader role in creating pathways for other girls to follow. The more I listened to Monica, the more I considered her a pioneer in the field. She was often the ‘first female’ to step into management roles as she crafted an inspiring career at GHD and more broadly across the industry. 

Whilst International Women’s Day is celebrated annually on 8 March, every day at St Catherine’s is a day for empowering girls and women. A school climate that allows girls to speak out, speak often and feel comfortable in doing so is vital to the overall health of the classroom culture. It is a priority in developing our confident and capable young woman who are ready to step forward and make a difference, much like Monica and her pursuit of a career in engineering.

Our Thinking Agenda at St Catherine’s encourages students to be Independent, Bold, and Creative young women. We intentionally adopt an exciting and vibrant learning style that lifts education from rote learning content to applying critical thinking as a routine to draw out ideas with reasoning and logic.

Our classroom goal is for students to solidify their knowledge by thinking critically under pressure and to reduce the passivity of students within the classroom setting. Such teaching practice has proven to encourage girls to consider the opinions of others, but to also build their individual confidence to respond in class, to find their voice, and to respect the diversity of views of others.  

This approach speaks volumes for the benefit of an all-girls’ education and the distinct advantage of an all-girls’ environment in the classroom, every day. Our focus is on encouraging girls’ natural strengths and talents.  

When girls are empowered, they build confidence in other areas of their life so they too can be part of a movement of women who add their voice and can achieve equality for all.