The University of Wollongong is hosting a Women in Engineering Summit this week to help overcome the gender gap in the male-dominated discipline.
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The five-day camp is educating 50 female year 10 and 11 students from NSW and the ACT on different career paths available in the field.
Only one in seven engineering students enrolled in Australia is female.
Faculty of Engineering senior lecturer Montserrat Ros said information days were imperative in encouraging the next generation of women engineers.
"I was attending a summer school back when I was the only girl in my school's physics class and they gave us a talk about engineering," Dr Ros said.
"It was really exciting to see other young women interested in maths and science and that network gave me confidence to pursue my career."
The large disparity between the number of male and female engineers is a cause for concern, according to professional body Engineers Australia.
"Women continue to be under-represented in the engineering profession at considerable cost to the economy," the organisation's 2012 Women in Engineering report said.
The report found most women in the engineering labour force were born overseas, suggesting a shortage of Australian women joining the industry.
Third-year UOW engineering student Ashley Terechors believes gender stereotypes and lack of information, rather than discrimination, are to blame for the low number of female engineers.
"Being male dominated it is daunting for women but I'm one of two women at my engineering firm and all the men I work and study with are encouraging and welcoming," she said.
"It's really important women educate each other and tell stories about successful women so we can tell young women to ignore gender stereotypes."
High school students Jamison Searle and Elizabeth O'Keefe both plan to pursue careers in engineering.
"The rate of women in engineering should be improved because we have just as much to offer as men do," Elizabeth said.