A new UTS Speakers' Program is introducing schoolgirls to career opportunities in the engineering and information technology industries.

The Sydney Women in Engineering and Information Technology (IT) Speakers' Program is run by Women in Engineering and jointly sponsored by the University and industry partners IBM and Telstra.

The Speakers' Program provides workshops in public speaking for young female graduates from IBM and Telstra, and Engineering and Information Technology students from UTS. These speakers visit schools to talk to girls in years 10 to 12, who are making career choices.

Women in Engineering Program Director Bronwyn Holland says that by mapping the pathways they have taken, their challenges and achievements, the speakers demystify these careers in which women are under-represented.

The Sydney Women in Engineering and IT Speakers' Program is based on a model developed by the National Centre for Gender & Cultural Diversity at Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne. The success of that program partnered by IBM and Telstra has led to the collaboration with UTS Women in Engineering.

The objective is to increase the number of young women selecting subjects that include non-traditional areas of study; and to increase enrolments in engineering and information technology courses, and the number of women working in both industries.

"The new Speakers' Program is an exciting opportunity to build on current strategies to engage girls with the possibilities of engineering and IT while developing new relationships with large employers such as IBM and Telstra," Ms Holland said.