Sheforce Gender Equality Program
Cultural Change Program to Reshape Workplaces to be Safe, Respectful and Inclusive for All Genders
Sheforce is proud to partner with provisional psychologists from Victoria University to launch its Sheforce Gender Equality Program.
Gender inequality continues to impede the health and wellbeing of women globally, being a key indicator for economic disparity and domestic violence.
Building Equality Policy
The Victorian construction industry remains highly segregated between genders, and experiences for many women in this industry have been marked by hostility. In an effort to bring women into the industry, the Victorian Government has recently introduced Building Equality Policy (BEP). The BEP seeks to disrupt the existing gender stereotypes, norms and roles in the construction sector and seeks to address the structural and cultural barriers women face.
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Sheforce Gender Equality Project
In response to the BEP, Sheforce continues to support women in entering the construction industry by coaching and mentoring them to build sustainable careers. Sheforce reinforces itself as an industry champion for women and aims to address gender inequalities by guiding construction workplaces to support and empower women. To do this we have partnered with Victoria University, College of Health and Biomedicine to develop the Sheforce Gender Equality Project.
This project aims to investigate and develop a framework and training program to be delivered by Sheforce to our clients to make workplaces inclusive, respectful and safe for everyone.
What is Sheforce Gender Equality Program?
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The Sheforce Gender Equality Program (SGEP) is a training program delivered on construction sites that will assist our clients in achieving Gender Equality Action Plans by providing “respectful workplace training to all workers throughout the subcontracting supply chain.
Alongside the training our clients will receive the Sheforce Gender Equality Project Report outlining research conducted by Victoria University Provisional Psychologists. They developed a project plan that considered the breadth of this issue and its persistence despite previous governmental interventions.
The authors have training in Community Psychology, a branch of psychology that goes beyond an individual focus and integrates social, cultural, economic, political, environmental, and international influences to promote positive change, health, and empowerment at individual and systemic levels. This makes them well suited to developing a Gender Equality project that has alignment with Sheforce’s philosophy and vision. This Community Psychology lens was expected to contribute to a training package that would approach this issue in a holistic, systems focused way, with consideration of the current landscape of the Victorian construction industry
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About Victoria University
For more than 100 years, Victoria University (VU) has offered accessible education to students in Melbourne’s west and beyond.
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VU is one of only six universities in Australia to offer courses in both TAFE and higher education; from certificates to diplomas, degrees and postgraduate courses.
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VU's flexible approach to learning and teaching supports its strategic plan and they aim to continue creating positive outcomes for education, industry and community into the future.