Key Points
- 2024 Play Well Study reveals that 76 per cent or three out of four girls aged 5-12 years old feel the pressure of perfection and worry about other's judgement of their creativity.
- With only 13 per cent of the construction industry being female, the Unstoppable Academy's mentorship initiative aims to empower young girls to explore the industry mostly dominated by men.
- 10-year-old Queeness Gutierrez makes history as one of the first participants of the Unstoppable Academy mentorship program.
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10-year-old Queeness Gutierrez makes history as among the first participants of Lego's construction mentorship program.mp3
19:16
“I've always been interested in singing and dancing as a child but I've always enjoyed building and playing Lego. I've always admired all those people who work around us - those designers, engineers and those construction workers and how they put so much effort into those buildings around us,” fondly shares the Bexley, New South Wales student.
From being creative with her singing and dancing, Queeness's interest in building has set her to her life dream - to become an Engineer someday. Credit: Supplied by Lego/Multiplex and Queency Gutierrez
The young lass is among the first participants of the mentorship initiative of Lego's Unstoppable Academy in partnership with global construction powerhouse, Multiplex.
"The Unstoppable Academy is a mentorship program designed to connect girls with influential leaders in creative industries, and empower them to shake up stereotypes, break free from limiting language and shape a future defined by innovation and imagination."
The program was initiated after the Lego Group's 2024 Play Well Study that revealed that 76 per cent or three out of four girls aged 5-12 years old feel the pressure of perfection and worry about judgement from others on their creative ideas.
According to the Housing Industry Association, which represents the Australian residential building industry, "the construction industry has one of the lowest rates of female participation amongst the major industries in the Australian economy," with only 13 per cent of the construction industry female.
Queness with her mentor, Multiplex Design Manager Natalie Haydon. Credit: Supplied by Lego/Multiplex
"I look forward to gaining a wider explanation of the construction jobs and the construction industry. So that in my future career, I can learn from that and educate myself from that," Queeness notes.
Queeness Gutierrez (2nd from left) with her mentor, Natalie Haydon (3rd from left), and her parents. Credit: Supplied by Lego/Multiplex
"We are just so proud of her that at a very young age, she's doing so much at school and this mentorship is an opportunity for her to widen her knowledge about something she's interested in - construction and Engineering. It will boost her further to achieve her plan or dream," Queeness's emotional mum, Queency.
If she can fulfil her dream of becoming an Engineer, Queeness will be the first in her family. Her mum was a registered nurse in the Philippines and now works as an Assistant in Nursing in Sydney.
An achiever in school and in the community Credit: Queency Gutierrez
"She is an absolute asset to our school just the way that she carries herself through the school, the way she interacts not only with her peers but her teachers but also within her class work, you've got a student that is very excited to learn, she's very inquisitively," Bexley Public School principal Scott McCardell describes Queeness.
Mr McCardell also believes that the mentorship opportunity will benefit not only Queeness but their whole school too.
"This partnership boosts her confidence, her ability to express her ideas and also the impact that she's had on all the students around her, is inspiring."
The school principal furthers that the mentorship program is also crucial in promoting industries like construction and engineering to the younger generation, especially to young girls.
"Looking ahead, it's important for kids to be inquisitive and creative. And we need to be able to create children or learners that have that capacity to be flexible, ask questions and to apply their knowledge to those new settings."
