An event this week has shown 50 high-achieving Year 10 girls what future awaits them in the worlds of engineering or IT.

EngenuITy has been a joint effort by the Monash University faculties of Engineering and IT, aimed at encouraging girls to study in the field as well as provide mentorship and support when they graduate.

A group of 50 top students have met this week with female professionals in the technological world, also getting their hands on, and minds around, the kind of exciting work undertaken at the tertiary level and above.

Associate Professor Karen Hapgood, Head of the Department of Chemical Engineering at Monash says: “the challenge today is not just about encouraging women to study engineering; it is also about supporting them within the engineering workplace. Changing attitudes and stereotypes about traditional gendered occupations are just as important as removing gender inequalities in universities.”

Some say early interest in technological studies seems to wane about mid-way through high school for most girls. Though there are many exceedingly successful female figures in the engineering and IT world, they are both fields still dominated by male influence.

“Through EngenuITy and other initiatives at Monash, we aim to challenge this image and open the girls’ minds to the possibility of pursuing a career in IT, engineering, or at the interface of the disciplines,” Associate Professor Hapgood said.

Networking sessions, hands-on activities and even the creation of a mobile phone app are among the opportunities afforded to some of the brightest young minds looking for future fields.

Anyone who missed out this year should worry not, EngenuITy will be back in 2014.