CANBERRA-AUSTRALIA/ For Kiyah Fallon, getting her driver’s licence was less a “rite of passage” and more a “cause for concern”. “I was really nervous about being on the roads,” the 21-year-old said.
“I was fine in rural New South Wales, but as soon as I got into the city it was really difficult for me to understand what on Earth was going on.”
That anxiety kept Ms. Fallon on her L-plates for three years, only seeking extra lessons when obtaining a provisional license became essential earlier this year. “I posted on Facebook about driving school recommendations and was hoping to have a female instructor,” she said.
“Purely out of comfort. I’m spending two, three hours a week with this person in a very close environment; I want to be able to get along with them and relate to them.” Donna Furber ticked those boxes.
“It is important, as the instructor, to really make the student feel in that safe space and to make them feel like they can achieve their goals,” Ms. Furber said. “They can ask questions, take as long as they want, do things at their own pace.”
Ms. Furber opened her driving school in April this year, after working in the industry for more than a decade. It accepts students of all genders, ages and abilities, but it prioritizes women.
“I have been in male-dominated environments and I do want to make sure that women, in particular, feel that empowerment when they’re in the car,” Ms. Furber said. It is a worthy endeavour, given 56 per cent of females passed their driving test in the ACT over the past 18 months, compared to 64 per cent of males.
Ms Fallon is among dozens of Ms Furber’s success stories.
“I got my Ps about two weeks ago and I’ve been driving to work every single day since then,” she said. “I feel confident; I’ve got Donna’s voice in the back of my head, telling me to check my blind spots. So I’m feeling quite happy.”
Supply not meeting demand
That gender match is also important for many migrant and refugee women.
“We’ve had a lot of clients who’ve requested a female driving instructor,” Josh Alexander, a team leader at the ACT’s Migrant and Refugee Settlement Services, said.
The organization’s learn-to-drive program offers subsidized, culturally sensitive lessons to eligible L-platers.
“There are some cultural barriers when it comes to female migrant women sitting in the same car with a male, that is not related to them,” Mr. Alexander said. “Even just a friend, they really can’t do that; it has to be a family member.
“And some of them come from backgrounds where women don’t drive at all.” He said getting a driver’s licence was a big step in many people’s lives.
“Some of them have never even sat in the front seat of a car, let alone being in a new country and progressing towards getting a driver’s license,” he said. “So imagine the level of independence that these clients would have, the pride and sense of achievement.”
But while instructor preference is a growing priority for personal and cultural reasons, women make up just 23 per cent of the national driving instructor workforce. Mr. Alexander said supply was not coming close to meeting demand.
“We have more than 200 people waiting to take up driving lessons and we get registrations every single day,” he said. “Around 70 per cent of them are women.”
“If more females can get involved, all the better,” Ms. Furber said. “I’ve noticed a lot of females, and their parents as well, really search for that female driving instructor.”
Source: ABC News