Aiming to open the doors to a wider range of career choices for students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, a property and infrastructure group has been recognised in Queensland for its school engagement programs.
Lendlease was awarded the Queensland Major Contractors Association (QMCA) Ian Harrington Award for collaboration after successfully developing and running several school engagement programs in partnership with the Australian Business and Community Network (ABCN) in Queensland.
“Lendlease is extremely proud to offer development opportunities to encourage more young Queenslanders to pursue careers in the civil construction industry,” said Glen McIlroy, Lendlease Executive General Manager – Northern Region.
“These programs aim to help raise awareness of STEM-related careers in the civil construction industry and assist students to develop crucial interview skills to help them pursue these careers when the time comes.
Over 110 students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds have benefited from these programs, involving nearly 60 volunteers from Lendlease’s regional Head Office and three major infrastructure projects in Brisbane: Gateway Upgrade North, Kingsford Smith Drive upgrade and Pacific Motorway Upgrade.
“This collaboration with Lendlease is important because it allows students from high-needs schools to be exposed to a wider diversity of career choices, including in the civil infrastructure industry,” added Heather Smith, ABCN Queensland Manager.
Lendlease is the only property and infrastructure group in Queensland to partner with ABCN to help develop and equip students with these sorts of skills, mentoring and career opportunities. As part of this program, there are now seven programs running at major projects across Queensland.
“We’re hoping these programs will increase the diversity of students considering careers in civil construction, with many of the students from multicultural backgrounds and around 50 per cent of the cohort female,” added Mr McIlroy.