Women at Bartons: Building Careers Across Every Part of the Automotive Industry
By Victoria de Ryck, Marketing at Bartons. Last updated 25 August 2026.
Walk into a Bartons workshop and you might see something you wouldn’t expect from an industry that has traditionally been male dominated: a woman under the bonnet, running diagnostics or working as part of the technical team.
At Bartons Motor Group, women are building careers across every part of the automotive business, from the workshop and sales floor to finance, marketing and senior leadership. The numbers below show just how far that goes, and how it compares with the rest of the industry.
· 425 employees across Bartons
· 127 female employees
· Women make up almost 30% of the Bartons workforce
· 12 female automotive technicians
· Women make up just over 8% of our technical workforce
· 2 of our 6 Dealer Principals are women
· 3 of our 8 shareholders are women
· 16 women have worked at Bartons for 10 years or more
· Women work across leadership, sales, service, marketing, finance, administration and technical roles
· Flexible working arrangements, from part-time to full-time, support working parents and career-driven employees alike
Women make up almost 30% of the Bartons workforce, compared with 20% across Australia’s automotive industry.
According to the Mining and Automotive Skills Alliance’s 2025 Workforce Plan, women represent 20% of Australia’s automotive workforce and just 3% of automotive technicians nationally.
At Bartons, 127 of our 425 employees are women. The difference is particularly noticeable in technical roles, with 12 women working as technicians across our workshops. Women make up just over 8% of the Bartons technical workforce, compared with 3% nationally.
For Bartons, increasing the number of women in automotive isn’t about one department or one type of role. Women are working across the business, from technical and service roles through to sales, finance, marketing and senior leadership.
Women are represented at some of the most senior levels of Bartons.
Two of Bartons’ six Dealer Principals are women and three of the group’s eight shareholders are women. Their careers demonstrate the opportunities for women to progress into senior leadership positions within the automotive industry.
Laura Wright, Dealer Principal at Bartons, has built her career while raising four children and says the support and flexibility she received played an important part in allowing her career to progress.
“Family owned and a senior management team who are all aligned on the long-term goals for the company and its staff. The people do matter. You don’t get that anywhere else,” Laura says.
“Without that support it would have been difficult to start the journey.”
Laura has also seen first-hand how uncommon women in senior dealership leadership roles can still be. At a recent manufacturer event attended by Dealer Principals from Australia and New Zealand, she was one of only two women in the room.
“It is employers like Bartons who continue to pave the way,” she says.
“We don’t know of another automotive business in Queensland that’s run by women shareholders in the way ours is,” says Mark Beitz, CEO of Bartons Motor Group. Three of the group's eight shareholders are women, spanning different parts of the business and different stages of their careers.
Flexibility that works for real lives
Careers at Bartons don’t all look the same, and that's by design, not by accident.
Across the business, Bartons employs people working two days a week, three days a week, four days a week and full time. Some team members work 15 hours a week, others 20 or 30, and many work standard full-time hours. This flexibility isn’t limited to women, but it has made a real difference for working mums, part-time mums balancing study or other commitments, and people who’ve chosen part-time retail or admin roles specifically for the work-life balance they offer.
At the same time, Bartons has plenty of full-time, career-driven women who have built their way into senior leadership and shareholding. The two aren’t in tension. A workplace that offers genuine flexibility for people who need it at one stage of their career can be the same workplace where people build 10, 15 or 20-year careers and end up running the business.
That flexibility matters because careers don’t move in a straight line. People start part time while studying or raising children, move to more hours as circumstances change, and sometimes move the other way again. Having real options at each stage is part of what keeps people at Bartons for the long term.
One of the clearest examples of women moving into traditionally male dominated automotive careers can be found in Bartons workshops.
Twelve women currently work as technicians across Bartons, making up just over 8% of the technical workforce.
Nationally, women make up just 3% of automotive technicians, according to the Mining and Automotive Skills Alliance’s 2025 Workforce Plan.
Modern automotive workshops are also changing. Today’s vehicles increasingly rely on electronics, computer systems and advanced diagnostic technology, creating opportunities for people with a broad range of technical and problem-solving skills.
For young women considering their career options, becoming an automotive technician or apprentice is one of many pathways available within the industry.
When people think about working in automotive, they often picture vehicle sales or mechanical trades. The reality is much broader.
At Bartons, women work across:
· Marketing
· Human resources
· Finance
· IT
· Customer experience
· Sales
· Parts
· Service
· Apprenticeships
· Technical roles
· Management and leadership
Automotive businesses need many of the same professional skills as other large organisations, alongside specialised sales, service and technical roles.
For women considering a career in automotive, there are opportunities for people with backgrounds and interests in business, finance, technology, customer service, marketing, management and skilled trades.
Representation isn’t only about who joins a business. It’s also about whether people have the opportunity to stay, develop and build a career.
Sixteen women currently working at Bartons have been with the business for 10 years or more.
That long-term experience can be found across different areas and levels of the business and reflects the career pathways available within Bartons.
One example is Jes, now a senior member of Bartons’ marketing team. Jes started at Bartons on weekends while still at high school, working on reception. From there she moved into administration, then took on a trainee marketing position, before growing into her current senior marketing role.
Jes' path reflects what a long-term career at Bartons can look like for someone starting out. It isn’t necessarily about arriving with a fixed idea of where you’ll end up. It's about being given the opportunity to try different roles, build skills over time, and grow into more senior positions as experience develops.
For young people starting out, and particularly young women weighing up their options straight out of school, that kind of pathway shows automotive careers can start small and grow substantially over time.
Each year, Bartons brings women from across the business together to mark International Women’s Day. The event includes women working across all areas of Bartons, from apprentices and technicians through to sales, service, administration, marketing, finance and senior leadership.
It is an opportunity to recognise the contribution women make to the business, but also to bring people together, share experiences and encourage conversations about career development and opportunities for women in automotive.
The event gives women at different stages of their careers the chance to connect. With women working across such a broad range of roles at Bartons, it is an opportunity for newer team members to meet and learn from women who have built long-term careers in the business.
For Bartons, International Women’s Day is not only about celebrating the women already working in the business. It is also about continuing to build an automotive workplace where women can see opportunities to start, develop and build long-term careers.
Bartons’ commitment to women in business also extends beyond its own workforce.
Through community partnerships, including its relationship with Wynnum State High School, Bartons gives students opportunities to learn more about careers and leadership within the automotive industry.
This includes education days, opportunities to sit in on leadership and management meetings, invitations to attend Bartons’ annual International Women’s Day event and access to sessions with Bartons’ external experts and professional development partners.
These experiences give young people an opportunity to see that automotive careers extend well beyond the roles they might traditionally associate with a car dealership.
For young women in particular, seeing women working as technicians, managers, Dealer Principals and business owners can help make those career pathways more visible.