Sara awarded NAWIC IWD scholarship

16/03/2017

Congratulations Sara Prendergast on being awarded the 2017 International Women's Day (IWD) research scholarship.

This scholarship was awarded by the National Association of Women in Construction (NAWIC).

The NAWIC IWD scholarship enables research to identify key challenges and opportunities our industry currently faces. Sara’s research project proposal will focus on further understanding how to successfully attract females to operational roles within the construction industry.

“At Downer, we are focused on building greater female participation at all levels and within all vocations of our business,” said Sara Prendergast, OneCompany Transformation Manager, Infrastructure Services.

“The gender diversity initiatives our Road Services business are trialling presents an opportunity to put a research framework together around it as well as provide valuable insights for our industry.

“These insights can then help us tangibly improve not only female participation and retention but also helps in implementing a shift in thinking to open even more pathways for diversity in our business,” said Sara.

“Diversity is more than just Corporate and Social responsibility for us in Infrastructure Services,” said Lina De Zilva, Executive General Manager, Human Resources.

“We believe that a diverse organisation is a key driver in creating a more engaged and productive workforce and by 2020, our commitment is to see our workforce comprising 20% females employees and 12% female managers. Sara’s work will no doubt help us on our way to achieve that goal.

“Well done on being awarded your research scholarship, Sara – we’re very proud of you,” said Lina.