On 24 July 2025, ADM held its second breakfast in the ADM Women in Defence and National Security Series, proudly hosted by CAE. The theme was Women in STEM: The funnel and the leaky pipeline.
The event was kickstarted by a panel consisting of women from across Defence and defence industry, including ADM’s Associate Publisher, Kylie Leonard; Professor Anna Paradowska from The University of Sydney and Commander Siobhan Sturdy, CSM, Royal Australian Navy, Deputy Director Nuclear Submarine Workforce Development. Marketing and Communications Manager –Indo-Pacific, CAE Defence & Security, Anna Moran, served as master of ceremonies.
“I grew up with MacGyver. I wanted to be like him,” Professor Paradowska said.
A key takeaway for many participants was the sentiment of: “Let’s raise tribes, not unicorns,” which Professor Paradowska stated.
The room was broken into smaller groups and asked the question: “If you were given $40 million to spend on a STEM program, where and how do you spend it?”
The gathered women (and some men) workshopped the idea and then presented their varied responses.
Every single group said $40 million was not enough and one group said they would use the $40 million to lobby the government for more money.
Some suggestions included encouraging children to complete puzzles and mathematics related games as often as parents read to them. Reading is always encouraged which in turn equates to a better understanding of English as a subject, but when it comes to their children, the same care is not taken by most parents for maths, the participants noted. One group noted that we have parent training for reading, writing and sex education. Why don’t we have parent education for STEM as well?
Other suggestions included focusing on women at the secondary and tertiary levels, mentoring them to better prepare young women for STEM careers.
“It was a great format to have a bit of freeform networking and some targeted and very insightful discussion alongside a panel,” an attendee said.
“It was such a fantastic event and so great to have a meaty discussion with brilliant panellists. Your stats were an absolute highlight – and really brought to the fore for me just how alarming the numbers are for women in STEM – so much room for change!” another stated.
“What a successful morning. The connections made were invaluable and the calibre of people you achieved for the workshop was impressive,” a third attendee added.
“Thank you for a great event – I was really pleased I found out about it and got a spot – really enjoyed the fact it was structured and covered a challenging topic, rather than just a networking event. Keen to participate in more :)” a participant confirmed.
Participants also had the opportunity to tour CAE’s Open Innovation Centre.
ADM would like to thank CAE for hosting the second ADM Women in Defence and National Security Breakfast.