Amanda Hogan is on a mission to reshape the future of Australia’s tech industry, all starting in the classroom.
As national head of content at the Girls’ Programming Network, Hogan is helping drive initiatives that have impacted more than 1,000 students and over 50 teachers nationally in the past year alone, all while embedding equity into tech education.
Speaking to B&T at the Women Leading Tech Awards, Hogan reflected on her own journey into the industry – and why visibility and mentorship remain critical to getting more women into STEM.
“I started in the tech industry a long time ago, at Microsoft,” she said. “I did find that I was a minority, but it was a very supportive place to work. It was really important to have women mentors and to see women in roles that I could aspire to be in.”
That early exposure to role models would go on to shape Hogan’s career, which later saw her transition into teaching before taking on a leadership role at the Girls’ Programming Network.
Now, she’s focused on building the kind of support system she wishes she’d had growing up.
“We have students from year three all the way to year 12, and once they finish, they become tutors,” Hogan explained. “It becomes this pipeline where they can mentor each other, learn from senior programmers, and grow together. That’s what we’re aiming to achieve.”
The impact is already being felt.
Hogan said the response from students has been overwhelmingly positive, particularly as many young girls don’t have peers at school who share their interest in technology.
“They’re very interested [and] really engaged,” she said. “For a lot of them, this is the first time they’re meeting other girls who like tech. That sense of community, plus access to mentors, is incredibly powerful.”
The program has recently expanded to include younger students in years three to six, with a pilot currently running in Sydney. While there’s been discussion about going even younger, Hogan acknowledged the challenges.
“There are particular considerations with years one and two – the structure, attention spans, and tutor training would all need to evolve,” she said. “But right now, years three to six is working really well.”
Hogan’s work comes at a critical time. Government data shows that just 22 per cent of university students in STEM are women or gender diverse – a figure she is determined to shift, particularly within ICT.
Central to that effort is a simple but powerful idea.
“You can’t be what you can’t see,” Hogan said. “We need to make sure women are visible at every stage – from school through to leadership – so the next generation knows what’s possible.”
