Factors affecting female career interests in the rail industry in Australia: A case study to increase female candidates at Metro Trains Melbourne
BUSN20016 – Research in Business
Factors affecting
female career
interests in the rail
industry in Australia:
A case study to
increase female
candidates at Metro
Trains Melbourne
By DISTANCE STUDENT
Assessment 1 – Project Outline
Contents
1. Introduction ..................................................................................................................... XXXXXXXXXX1
2. Aim and objectives ........................................................................................................... XXXXXXXXXX1
3. A
ief methodology ........................................................................................................ XXXXXXXXXX2
4. References ....................................................................................................................... XXXXXXXXXX3
5. Appendix .......................................................................................................................... XXXXXXXXXX4
Topic Discussion ............................................................................................................... XXXXXXXXXX4
BUSN20016: Assessment of Assignment 1
Criteria XXXXXXXXXXTotal marks Marks Obtained
1. A
ief statement of the problem, research aim and objectives 16
2. A
ief methodology
3. Sources of secondary data, data presentation and analysis
methods
4. Accurate referencing, use of co
ect English and logical sequences
etween sentences and paragraphs
5. Topic presentation (for on-campus students)/ topic discussion on
the unit Moodle side (for distance mode students)
4
Total = 20
Penalty for late submission (5% reduction for each day of late
submission)
Penalty for high level of Turnitin similarity (Marke
UC decides)
GRAND TOTAL = 20
1. Problem Statement
The dominance of male employees in the rail industry in Australia has been well
documented (Van Barneveld & Jowlett, 2005; Wallace, Lings, & Cameron, 2012; Wallace
et al., XXXXXXXXXXAccording to the Rail Track Association of Australia (2015), as of 2014,
women only make up approximately 17% of the Australian rail workforce, up from 15%
in 2006 (Brennan et al., 2009), and although there are gains over the past decade, the
industry still lags behind the national average of 46.2% female representation (WGEA,
XXXXXXXXXXThe contribution that female employees make to the performance of firms has
een related to increased work team performance and improved engagement and
financial gains (Yan & Liwen 2012; Pe
yman, Fernando, & Tripathy 2016), however
evidence suggests that the degree of this efficacy is industry specific (Ali, Kulik, & Metz,
2011) and is only facilitated when additional moderating variables are present (Dwyer,
Richard, & Chadwick, 2003).
Metro Trains Melbourne (MTM) is the private metropolitan rail service provider
charted by the Victorian government to manage and deliver safe and reliable subu
an
ail services to the people of Victoria, Australia. MTM’s diversity and inclusion policy
encourages the career development of women in their organisation, however despite
this, cu
ent female applicants only represent approximately 1 in 3 of all external
applications at MTM, with the lowest rates being in operations and engineering roles (R.
Christianson, interview, March 20, XXXXXXXXXXMTM recognises that the lack of female
interest in rail industry careers is impacting on their long-term workforce planning
strategy. They are seeking innovative ways to increase the quantity and quality of
female candidates to career paths offered at MTM, especially in engineering and rail
operations (services) roles.
2. Aim and objectives
This research proposal aims to investigate the significance of an increased female
employee representation on MTM’s business performance goals, and to establish the
factors that are dete
ing female career interest to positions within the Australian rail
industry. The objectives are to:
• Determine the cu
ent rate of female participation in rail;
• Examine the benefits of increased female participation on MTM’s business;
objectives;
• Examine the factors that influence the low rates of female applicants to
positions/careers in the rail industry, and;
• Develop strategies for MTM to help increase the attractiveness of careers for
women in rail industry.
3. A
ief methodology
To accurately assess the variables effecting the attraction of women to careers in rail
and to assess their impact on MTM, this study has chosen mixed methodology to
conduct this study.
• Literature Review – to assess the cu
ent issues effecting the rail industry in
Australia, which may include the economic situation, the performance of women
in the workplace, and factors external to rail. Sources will include government
data, rail industry association reports, academic journals, and other relevant
publicly available reports.
• Data collection –Secondary data will be collected from government and
industry sources and advocacy groups.
• Interviews – To support the findings from the secondary data, this study will
also conduct key stakeholder interviews with Melbourne Metro, Advocacy group
and female staff . Combined with key findings, these will assist in the discussion
on the development of future workforce planning strategies.
4. Secondary data and data analysis methods
As mentioned earlier, this study will mainly use secondary data from the Victorian
government and MTM database, which would be available online. In particular,
demographic characteristics of all staff of MTM, workplace flexibility and safety data
such as flexibility in work schedule, occupational health and safety data and literature
will be collected from MTM website and from their annual report.
After collecting all data, all variables such as demographic characterises, workplace
safety indicators and flexibility will be structured in an Excel sheet and then a
co
elation analysis will be