In a joint project, with the Australian Local Government Association and the Monash University Accident Research Centre, the ACRS has been awarded a grant from the National Careers Institute Partnerships (NCIP) on Career Opportunities and Pathways for Women.
The NCIP Grant allows the College to establish a clear career pathway for women in road safety to reach their full potential, published through the MySkills website. Research will be undertaken to identify gaps in current professional development options and provide recommendations to potential education providers. The project looks at requirements from three perspectives:
- Employers of road safety professionals – what skills and expertise are they looking for when hiring;
- Road safety professionals – what skills and expertise did they bring to the role, what professional development is needed to successfully fulfil their role and
- Education providers – what are the gaps in current tertiary offerings and what professional development options are needed.
Dr. Diane Spencer-Scarr is leading the research for this project which includes a national survey to benchmark the state of the Road Safety industry. This will be followed by interviews and focus groups to probe how to attract people to all levels of the industry and improve their core industry knowledge and skills. There will be particular focus on attracting women who are underrepresented in Road Safety.
The project also involves a new ACRS Award – the Women in Road Safety Award, as well as a Women in Road Safety Pre-conference event, both of which will be launched at the 2022 Australasian Road Safety Conference in Christchurch in September.
Please contact Diane Spencer-Scarr: projects@acrs.org.au if you are interested in participating the project or would like more information.
You can also view the latest news story on this that has information about the Career Pathways for Women in Road Safety survey.