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Update your browserIn spirit of reconciliation, the WREN acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea, and community. We pay respects to their Elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
As the WREN is partnered with Australian and Brazilian universities, we also pay respects to the Indigenous people of Brazil, who are the first knowledge holders of its land.
The Women's Research Engineers Network is established to support women in engineering, with a vision for equity in the engineering research community from early to mid and senior academic levels.
The WREN provides a channel to promote international collaboration between women research engineers and increasing the awareness of leaders to implement policies that support women in their academic careers.
Act as a channel for early-, mid- and senior- career women in engineering to connect with one another
Grow from a bilateral collaboration between Brazil and Australia, to a multilateral collaboration
Provide a platform to foster international collaboration, such as through grant proposals, joint publications, and co-teaching partnerships
Bring awareness of the gender disparity apparent in a male-dominated profession, particularly in engineering and academia, leading to the creation of policies to tackle the factors preventing women from career advancement.
While there is an increasing understanding of gender equality, and of the urgency of employing more women to have a gender-balanced workplace, many barriers still exist that inhibit women through their career progression pipeline, resulting in fewer women continuing in the engineering professions or aiming towards senior positions and leadership. Women research engineers are navigating barriers such as societal stereotypes, discrimination, limited access to grants and career development opportunities, and balancing of work and family responsibilities. WREN is a network which will help support women engineers to overcome these gender-related barriers.
The committee of the WREN is made up of research engineers from universities around the world. The committee members specialise in different engineering disciplines and come from diverse backgrounds.
Chair
Vice-Chair
Secretary
Marketing Communications Coordinator
Events Coordinator
Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Officer
Higher Degree Research Representative
Brazil Representative
ASEAN Representative
ASEAN Representative
The women who were part of the committee and made it possible to establish the network.
The WREN is led by the University of Wollongong and the University of São Paulo (Engineering school in São Carlos), with the collaboration of the USP Women’s Office. It was launched in April 2021. The WREN is supported by the Commonwealth through the Council on Australia Latin America Relations (COALAR), which is part of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Since then, WREN has partnered with other organisations.
As a network striving for gender equity, WREN aims to amplify the voices of women in all areas and thank them for their support and amazing work!
Jasmine Ryan
Prof. Rafaella Lopes Pereira Peres
Be part of a network where you can connect with peers around the world, find opportunities, celebrate women’s achievements, and work together towards a gender-equal research community.
We are always looking for new partners and volunteers to chase the shared vision of a gender-equal engineering research community. If you want to support women researchers in engineering and are keen to be part of a women-led team, reach out to us!
