Women taking the driving seat in Gold Coast car yards
The Gold Coast automotive industry is more open to women than anywhere else in the country according to Kathleen Broadway, the only female principal BMW in Australia.
The 33-year-old who started as a BMW intern in Melbourne 11 years ago, has also worked for leading car brands in the US.
“The Gold Coast is super progressive. You have the Frizelles and with Bec Frizelle at the head of it, the Gold Coast itself is more accepting of women in the industry. They have been very forward thinking compared to other places,” she said.
Ms Frizelle, an automotive industry trailblazer, said despite more women now in the industry it was still “uncommon” to have female staff.
“We still need to see more women. Many women don’t realise it is a wonderful industry with so many career opportunities whether it’s HR, marketing, IT, finance. We have an in-house lawyer.”
The Frizelle group has a groundbreaking exemption to the Anti-Discrimination Act so it can limit vacancy ads to women for certain jobs.
Ms Frizelle applied for it so the roster was more representative and because researched showed 85 per cent of decision-making on car buys was made by women.
Source: BMW bigwig Kathleen Broadway says women are taking the driving seat in Gold Coast car yards
5 Sept 2018