Women in Transport (WiT) Leadership Development Scholarship Program

All employment and training programs

Image: 2023 WiT Leadership Development Scholarship recipients, (L-R) - Kat Li, Taru Jain, Mamode Osikoya. (absent, Penny Papoulidis).

About the scholarships

Since 2017, the Women in Transport (WiT) Leadership Development Scholarship Program has provided opportunities for career advancement for high potential women to rise to senior positions within the industry.

Three scholarships up to the value of $30,000 each are awarded each year (until 2024) for leadership development courses at an Undergraduate, Masters, Postgraduate and executive level, relatable to a transport and infrastructure area.

Women in Transport (WiT) Scholarships are open to all women (including transgender women) and gender diverse people, employed by the Victorian Public Service (VPS) within MTIA and its projects, by Department of Transport and Planning (DTP) and its agencies, or V-line. You must have completed your employment probation period.

The WiT Team have had the privilege of interviewing WiT Scholars to get snapshots of their journey throughout the program, which have been collated into the WiT Leadership Development Scholarship Program Booklet 2022 [PDF 556 Kb].

For additional information, please contact witprograms@levelcrossings.vic.gov.au.

2023 Women in Transport Scholarship Recipients

In May 2023 the WiT Leadership Development Scholarship selection panel comprised of Senior Executives and Management from across DTP and Major Transport Infrastructure Authority’s (MTIA); reviewed 21 eligible applications.

The panel discussed and agreed upon the successful applicants, based on the highest scores and overall merit, taking in to account the applicants outlined course, project scope, benefit to the Transport sector and areas of greatest impact for gender equity.

We are pleased to congratulate this year’s four new members of the WiT Scholar Alumni:

Including this year’s recipients, the Department of Transport and Planning’s WiT Leadership Development Scholarship Program will have awarded twenty scholarships (to the value of $637,450) to high performing women and gender diverse leaders working within the transport and transport infrastructure Victorian Public Service (VPS) since 2017-18.

The WiT Scholarship Program Secretariate role facilitated by the Industry Capability & Inclusion team at Level Crossing Removal Project (LXRP) has a keen focus on continuous improvement and welcomes feedback on this process and program.

For more information on our WiT Scholar Alumni please review the booklet of compiled Alumni profiles.

Please contact the WiT Secretariat via witprograms@levelcrossings.vic.gov.au if you have further queries.

WiT Scholarship Alumni

Towards the end of 2022, the WiT Team successfully hosted the inaugural WiT Leadership Development Scholarship Program Alumni meet and greet session. During this first meeting, 10 of our WiT Scholars came together to share their experiences, successes, and aspirations for the future.

This year’s four newest WiT Scholars join the WiT Scholar Alumni who are rising to the challenge of full-time work, part time study and in many instances caring responsibilities. The WiT Scholar Alumni continue to give back to the WiT programs and its network through program promotion, guest speaking opportunities, as WiT Mentors and more recently become buddies to our newest WiT Scholar members.

To apply

Applications for the 2023 program have now closed – this year’s successful candidates will be announced very soon!

Further information

For additional information, please email witprograms@levelcrossings.vic.gov.au

This program is run by the Level Crossing Removal Project – a project office of Major Transport Infrastructure Authority delivering Victoria's Big Build, on behalf of the Department of Transport and Planning.