Her project, a pilot mentoring network for female agriculture students has been nominated for a Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation Rural Women’s Award.

“When I started here [at UNE] ten years ago I was the only young female academic within the department,” Ms Doyle said.

“It’s tipped – there’s more girls than boys studying now, but when I’m out in the industry talking to people they’re all male.

“I did some research and found that over 50 per cent of our students are women, but there’s only 30 per cent that are actually in the agriculture industry.”

The question remains – where are 20 per cent of women going?

As a mother of three herself, Ms Doyle believes many females drop out of their careers to have children.

“Being a mother of three children and maintaining a career is something I’ve done because I love it, but at times you do think ‘Why am I doing this?’ It can be tough,” Ms Doyle said.

“Hopefully my mentoring program will allow women to feel supported and when the chips are down those that think it’s too hard to go back to the industry after having children might reconsider that.”

Women made up just 28 per cent of the agricultural industry in 2012, according to data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

Ms Doyle’s mentoring program aims to support women to move into leadership roles.

“We may have females in the industry but they’re not in those leadership, decision making roles,” she said.

“There’s a lot of women out there who have something to contribute to the industry and want to make it better.

“I myself am here because of a really good mentor that’s been with me my whole career.”

The winner will be announced in April at Parliament House in Sydney and receive a bursary of $10,000 to launch their project.