Celebrating International Women's Day
Gender Equity Insights: Breaking Through the Glass Ceiling
The Gender Equity Insights series 2019 by the Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre and the Workplace Gender Equality Agency launched its fourth report in the BCEC|WGEA Gender Equity series with special guest speaker, the Hon Julie Bishop MP on 1st March 2019 at Hyatt Regency, Perth. The event was attended by industry leaders and our school was one of the three schools invited to participate in the event. Year 12 and Year 11 Economics students Olivia, Kosara, Jasmine, Grace, Anne, Regine and Ella attended the event.
The aim of the event was to extend and strengthen the evidence base around gender equality throughout Australian workplaces and its changes over the last five years as well as to profile gender pay gaps across occupations and industry sectors.
The esteemed panel for the afternoon consisted of : the Hon Julie Bishop MP, Libby Lyons, Director, Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) and Rowan Munchenberg, Managing Director, Bankwest, with BCEC Director Professor Alan Duncan and BCEC Principal Research Fellow Associate Professor Rebecca Cassells.
Professor Alan Duncan and Associate Professor Rebecca Cassells presented an insightful report about how how balanced the workforce is in our country in terms of men and women. The report found that parity could be 'closer than we think' and that women are progressing into management jobs faster than men. However, unfortunately we will not see an equal balance of women in Chief Executive positions until the next century!
The guest speaker, Hon. Julie Bishop, gave a talk on her experience as a woman being a politician and how she was the 'first woman' to do many things in her job.
Our students got an opportunity to ask the panel, "What can young women do to ensure that they break the glass ceiling barrier?" Ms. Cassells hoped that in future the concept of "glass ceiling would become redundant by then. The sentiment was echoed by Mr. Munchenberg that in future organisations would make conscious decisions to ensure more equity particularly for top positions. Ms. Lyons encouraged young girls to undertake more "challenging courses" so as to enhance their growth and to engage in meaningful dialogues with their families and create a work-life balance and work together towards a shared aspiration. Ms. Bishop reflected on her journey and gave the girls an advice that she chose for herself and that is "not to let my gender define me" and it is not a "constraint" but to embrace it as women add much value to any organisation.
The students had an opportunity to interact and discuss their aspirations with the panel members after the event as well. It was an amazing experience for our young girls who are just coming to grips with the world we live in and feel privileged gain valuable insights that the seminar provided.
