Girl graduates are top of the class

Wednesday, 19 December 2001

GIRLS are showing the boys how it's done in the School of Engineering at Adelaide University, despite being outnumbered four to one.

Engineering traditionally attracts low numbers of female students, but girls have topped the list in two graduating classes at Adelaide University this week.

The Engineering Class of 2001 graduates today (Wednesday, December 19) in Bonython Hall at Adelaide University.

Of the top four graduates in the degree of Bachelor of Engineering (Civil), the first three are female. And of the top four graduates in the degree of Bachelor of Engineering (Civil & Environmental), again three are female.

In each degree, the student who achieved the highest marks was a female student: Malaysian student Mei Tzeang Cheong for the BE (Civil), and local student Jennifer Selway for the BE (Civil & Environmental).

Ms Cheong is one of the international students who completed her studies in Adelaide thanks to the University's arrangement with the Sepang Institute of Technology in Malaysia.

In the BE (Civil), around 18% of the students graduating this year are female, while 41% of the final-year class for BE (Civil & Environmental) were female.

In the School of Engineering overall, around one in every five students is female.

"The fact that so many of the top students are female shows us that girls can and do succeed in engineering, which is traditionally a non-female area of study," says the Executive Dean of Engineering, Computer & Mathematical Sciences, Professor Ian Young.

"We would encourage more female students to follow the lead of our graduates this year and apply themselves to engineering, which is not only a rewarding area of study for both male and female students, but also has a very high employment rate."

NOTE: The Engineering graduation ceremony runs from 10am to approximately 11am.

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