I've just arrived home from a holiday up at the Keppel Islands. Really good fun. This morning I found a letter from the QRC with a brochure called "Leading Practice Principles for the Attraction and Retention of Women in the Minerals and Energy Sector". The info in it got me pretty excited. I mean, I knew mining and engineering companies were keen to employ more women, but check this out:

• Rio Tinto's Coal Australia's Clermont Mine holds focus groups with women onsite for them to gain an understanding of the support mechanisms that can make their work life easier
• BHP Billiton Mitsubishi Alliance has a Gender Diversity Strategy which includes a BMA women's network, development day for women, research into best practice in gender diversity arena, the appointment of a senior advisor women's employment and more.
• Cement Australia analyses total employment cost statistics by gender. The stats on disparities are presented to the executive team annually and movements to ensure there is no systematic inequality are discussed.
• Macmahon Holdings transfers couples to the same locations to ensure a good work/life balance.
• Rio Tinto Alcan's Weipa Operation provides a childcare facility.

These are just a few examples of how companies are encouraging women to get involved in the resource sector. The brochure has hundreds of similar pieces. I think that's pretty encouraging for any girls looking at studying engineering.

I've enrolled in my courses for next semester: Principles of Biological Engineering; Process Principles; Chemical Structure and Reactions; Environmental Issues, Monitoring and Assessment; Analysis of Engineering and Scientific Data.

Looks like it's going to be pretty full on...