Finalist 2017: Amy Randell, NT

Name: Amy Randell

Community, State: Alice Springs, NT

School: St Philips College

Age: Grade 10, age 15

Check out this amazing top 40 entry!


From primary school to Prime Minister, how can we create strong pathways to power for women?

Society has placed women in a box. A box that’s filled with patronizing gender stereotypes and preconceived opinions of a woman’s worth. This box holds us hostage inside of our minds as we are told how to think, behave and dress. Young girls are swept into the arms of this cycle and dipped into this miss conception of being perceived as less powerful. As we are raised under the assumption that a woman’s place is in the kitchen, we are influenced in a way that needs to be changed.

We need to burst through this box, shattering the way we are viewed by society and create equal opportunities for each other by empowering other women. We need to celebrate “difficult” and “bossy” women to enable young girls to aspire to be more and achieve their passions.  Young girls need to see women excelling in the work force to break the barrier placed upon us by our gender

It all begins in our early years of schooling, primary schools. The confidence you plant within your daughter is what will drive her to become an ambitious citizen. This confidence will provide her with the strength she needs to stand against societal normality and create her own pathways to power and success. Raising children correctly is the key. Raise them in a way that creates a ripple effect of respect and equality. An effect that will influence them to believe that they are powerful enough to earn the same positions as any man could and they can be anything they dream of being!

The fact remains that males are still viewed as the leading sex in many professions. Gender equality needs to be pushed further to create the successful future that women and men deserve. A future that creates a balance of equal opportunities for everyone. No one has the power to shatter your dreams, so don’t give them the ability to. Whether that dream is to become the next Prime Minister of Australia or to educate the children of our future.

Ladies, it’s time to think outside the box.