This year’s International Women’s Day has inspired us to acknowledge the wonderful women at Cobalt. 2019 marks Cobalt’s highest female participation-level ever, with women making up almost 50% of Cobalt’s staff. While this is a feat in itself for the industry, what should be celebrated most is the strong work ethic, positive attitude and multi-disciplinary skills that have led them to the positions they’re in today.
According to recent statistics, only 15% of engineering-based graduates are female in Australia. While these numbers are increasing, a large disparity remains between women who graduate from these qualifications and those that make a career of it. Consequently, when it comes to senior roles in product design and mechanical R&D engineering there is a deep lack of female representation.
Comparing these figures to Cobalt’s team dynamics, our balance is a rarity. From admin to engineering, our women are kicking goals not only in their projects, but for female representation and leadership within our industry. Their roles span across project leadership, product engineering, design, admin, finance, marketing and UX strategy.
Cobalt was founded on a culture of teamwork and respect. Our unique strength is the collective of every one of our people; so Cobalt’s diversity and inclusion makes sense in producing outstanding design results. Our shared vision, passion and cohesion creates an environment that invites our team to be their best.
When asked what drives them, the women of Cobalt said that the “sense of achievement when seeing a physical outcome succeed” and “achieving things other people couldn’t” is the motivational force behind their work. But ultimately, what inspires them is the “energy, motivation and passion” of the team and knowing that “the world is better for someone, somewhere because of what we do”.
This ‘can-do’ supportive attitude has been the key to our past successes and current capabilities, building upon the achievements future teams will aspire toward. And there’s no doubt that the women of Cobalt have stepped up as role models for those within the field and those entering it, contributing to a stronger female representation within the industry. We look forward to what heights they will reach next, confident they can do anything they put their mind to.
(Mary and Victoria absent from main picture).
