Name: Serena Lange
Community/State: Nuriootpa, South Australia
School: Nuriootpa High School
Age/Grade: 17 Years, Year 12
Overcoming the odds – how can we push through barriers to achieve gender equality?
In today’s society, it is positive to see an increasing ratio of women in many formerly male dominated positions. However, gender inequality remains evident through the lack of female representation in leadership positions within workplaces. Overall, women make up only 38.4% of all managers in Australia and the percentages of Australian women in leadership positions decrease from 41.9% at manager level to 16.5% at CEO level.(1) Such under-representation of women in leadership positions can appear discouraging to all girls and women who have limited role models to aspire to. Therefore, as more females obtain senior leadership positions, it is essential workplaces promote this success, allowing for upward social comparisons to be made to encourage more women to pursue their personal aspirations.
Leaders do more than manage; they also motivate, empower, and inspire people to contribute their best in working towards achieving a goal. Although these are typical behavioural traits many females display, they only correspond to two-thirds of Susan Colantuono’s ‘career success equation for women’, as identified in her TED Talk entitled “The career advice you probably didn’t get”.(2) Workplaces inform, on average, only 1 in 50 women of the skills and competencies relating to the ‘missing’ third (business, strategic and financial acumen), which are aspects essential for career advancement; significantly disadvantaging women from building the necessary skill-set to obtain leadership positions.(3) Human Resources executives need to implement strategies to educate women on how to build the proper skill-set to obtain leadership positions, rather than conventional advice focusing on personality development.
In contrast, working in a position of leadership is not desired by, or essential for, all women who want to see gender equality achieved within our society. Every woman can step up into their own position of leadership within their everyday life to exemplify to those around them that women are competent and capable, and will not tolerate being disadvantaged. Challenges will always present themselves throughout life, especially within the workplace. However, as women, it is our responsibility not to let these barriers deter or prevent us from achieving our goals, but instead embrace them to help us grow stronger as individuals, and bring us together to stand against gender inequality; developing a legacy for future generations. To ensure women have the opportunity to achieve gender equality, workplaces need to provide females with appropriate role models, education and training to allow for positive outcomes in line with male co-workers.
(1) Australia’s gender equality scorecard. (2017). [pdf] Workplace Gender Equality Agency. Available at: https://www.wgea.gov.au/sites/default/files/2016-17-gender-equality-scorecard.pdf [Accessed 17 Oct. 2018].
(2) Colantuono, S. (2013). The career advice you probably didn’t get. Available at: https://www.ted.com/talks/susan_colantuono_the_career_advice_you_probably_didn_t_get [Accessed 4 Oct. 2018].
(3) ibid.