Billionaire Robin Khuda has donated $100 million to the University of Sydney to help develop a pipeline for girls from Western Sydney to enter the STEM industries.
Khuda founded data centre business AirTrunk a little over ten years ago to give businesses in the region the cloud resources they need to scale.
Khuda identified the need for improved pathways for women and girls into technology as he tried to recruit engineers for his business. He worked with the university over 18 months to create the three-tiered 20-year program.
B&T is on a mission to help reprogram the tech industry for good at the Women Leading Tech Awards.
The first stage will see the Khuda Family Foundation Outreach Program work to generate sustained interest in STEM in early high school among both boys and girls.
The Khuda Academy will then handle stage two. It is designed for girls in Year 11 and 12 and aims to reach more than 1,200 students once fully implemented and provide academic and financial support. It will also guarantee a place at the University of Sydney for those who pass muster.
The third phase of the program will aim to create a community of 300 graduates receiving scholarship funds, specialised mentoring and academic support during their undergraduate degree. Successful scholars will receive an accommodation stipend of $25,000 to reduce the travel time to and from Western Sydney along with a living expenses payment of $8,500 a year.
According to the government’s The state of STEM gender equity report in 2023, girls only make up around a quarter of enrolments in year 12 information technology, physics and engineering classes. Women make up 37 per cent of enrolments in university STEM courses, and just 17 per cent of VET STEM enrolments. Only 15 per cent of STEM-qualified jobs are held by women.
Building communities has long been felt to be among the most effective ways to get women into the STEM industries and ensure they remain in the sector. B&T is on a mission to help reprogram the tech industry for good at the Women Leading Tech Awards.
Carsales, for instance, is involved in several community programs to to address the root cause of underrepresentation.
Meanwhile, Atlassian, operates a wide variety of projects to bring more women into the company. It even encourages and accommodates its own staff working to accelerate women entering the STEM workforce.
Alex Penna, for instance, a senior software engineer in the company’s Cloud team helps to run the Girls’ Programming Network which offers coding workshops for high school girls and gender minorities. Each school term around Australia it runs free, full-day programming workshops hosted by local technologists and teachers designed to help women and girls learn together, make new friends and have fun with tech. Atlassian is the Platinum Sponsor of GPN, where it supports its workshops and initiatives.
“Robin Khuda came to the University with a challenge he knew we cared deeply about—the lack of gender diversity in STEM and of opportunities and support for students to pursue their interest in STEM studies and careers. We’ve worked together in close collaboration to create this program and forge this partnership, which will create life-changing opportunities for girls and women from Western Sydney,” said vice-chancellor and president of the University of Sydney, Professor Mark Scott.
“Our ambition is to make a long-term and lifechanging impact, helping build a diverse pipeline of STEM qualified people to help meet the 1.2 million tech jobs needed in Australia to keep us at the forefront of technology.
“Over the past 10 years building AirTrunk, I’ve seen firsthand the need for more people with STEM skills and the underrepresentation of women in STEM education and the workforce. Diversity in STEM is crucial to enable innovation, problem-solving, and creativity.”
B&T is on a mission to help reprogram the tech industry for good at the Women Leading Tech Awards.
