Watch now: Fearless Conversations – Amazing South Australian women discuss breaking the bias and pushing boundaries
One of the best ways to show women what’s possible is to simply celebrate those who show it is. Watch the Fearless Conversations replay.
Fearless Conversations
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Beyond education, one of the most powerful ways to drive gender equality in the workplace is for women to see other women being successful, say industry leaders involved in the most recent Advertiser and Flinders University Fearless Conversation forum.
The state’s first female building inspector, mum-of-two Litsa Adamou, says she is proud to be held up as a role model forothers.
“Only 12 per cent of those in construction are women (while) on the ground it’s just three or four per cent,” she said.
“It’s about education and breaking the bias. I want to let women know it is OK (to seek a career in building and construction),if that is what they want to do.
“It’s important to highlight amazing accomplishments, and to celebrate them … we need to be actively involved in influencingthat next generation and shifting the mindset of the current generation.”
Physicist and educator Maria Parappilly agrees.
“I don’t hear people saying, ‘I went to my female dentist’, or ‘my female GP told me’ … the gender issue comes in when thereis not balance, such as female scientists,” she said.
“I think one of the reasons girls drop out of things such as studying physics is because they can’t see many role models inthe physic areas.”
Meanwhile, advertising queen, Oranje Creative founder Melinda Parent, says Australia lags other countries when it comes to gender equality on company boards.
Something, she argues, needs to be addressed.
“(It’s as if) we have been trained not to succeed beyond a certain level and I think we have to break that bias,” she said.
“Women bring a different perspective, provide different opinions and offer different experiences and strategies … we haveso much to offer.
“In the UK, the States and also Scandinavia now you have to have equal boards, they’ve seen there is better governance, bettercorporate success, so that is happening.
“Of the 200 top Australian companies, a third have less than 30 per cent of women on their boards … so it is something weneed to look more closely at.”
M
s Parent also sees the value in extending flexible work options that emerged during the pandemic, including finding waysto accommodate working parents.
“I think working mothers are very flexible, they are used to adapting and juggling sick kids, school drop-offs, volunteeringat their child’s school.
“When my son was born, I moved the entire office into my home with me for five years and it was the most successful – andenriching – time of my career.”
Girls ‘not fully grasping’ what science can offer
South Australia’s most celebrated scientific minds say too often science’s creative side is overlooked with young people, particularly girls, not fully grasping what the field offers.
They say, the key is exposing students at a young age both to role models and “the creativity and wonder in things such as physics”.
Adelaide Medical School Professor in Vaccinology Helen Marshall – this year’s SA Woman of the Year – says the disciplines of science are incredibly varied.
“There is a vast diversity in options to work in science, from laboratory discovery through to implementation science that lead to changes in practice … and policy that lead to improvements in health, our environment and society, the choice is limitless,” Prof Marshall said.
“Girls bring an excitement of discovery and core values of wanting to make a difference and contribute to a better world.”
Leading Adelaide physicist Maria Parappilly said her interest in science was piqued as a year 8 student in her homeland, the Kerala state in India.
“I was drawn to physics, in particular, as I liked the pattern, I liked to do simple problem solving,” she said.
Inspired by her schoolteacher mother she went on to complete a masters in physics before marrying at 22 and relocating to Australia with her husband four years later where she headed back to university to do a doctorate in particle physics.
Today, the Order of Australia Medal recipient is passionate about sharing her love of science – and its career possibilities – with young people, especially girls.
“It is important to educate girls about the possibilities in STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) … to showcase the wonderful careers and allow them to perform science,” she said.
“It is through this they can see the creativity and wonder in things such as physics.”
One of her many roles within Flinders University’s College of Science and Engineering is as director and chief investigator of the STEM Enrichment Academy, aimed to seek out, inspire and nurture young talent.
At 22, Stephanie Mayes is one of those who has been inspired and in turn wants to share her love of science with a new generation.
After completing a Bachelor of Science, specialising in Energy and Enhanced Materials, she is now in her final year of a Master of Teaching (Secondary), majoring in both mathematics and physics.
“I want to show people that physics is a diverse and exciting field … what I love most about science is that it is a doorway into a deeper understanding of the world and universe we live in,” she said.
“I am a curious person and science enables me to find answers to my questions – there is always something new to learn and discover.”
Education is key to breaking down the bias
Education is key to driving change in perceptions and shifting the gender balance in the building and construction industry, South Australia’s first female building inspector says.
House Inspect Australia founder and general manager Litsa Adamou said more needs to be done to encourage women to join a workforce which even today remains at around 90 per cent male.
“It is absolutely very heavily male dominated. I think we’re about a 10 to 12 per cent female workforce, with only two to three per cent on the tools,” she said.
Getting women to stay in the industry is also a challenge. “It’s still a man’s world,” Ms Adamou said. “Women just don’t have the appropriate support network and they have to work harder than a male to prove themselves and earn respect in the industry. That can be disheartening.”
Ms Adamou is calling on support from the education sector to attract more female employees into careers in building and construction.
“Change is never going to happen overnight, but I think it needs to start from an education sector to shift the status quo,” she said.
“It’s the next generation that is going to make the change. We’re there to educate that next generation to create change and show that it is possible to have a successful career as a female in building and construction.”
Breaking the traditional gender bias will be the subject of this week’s The Advertiser and Flinders University Fearless Conversation forum, which brings together leading South Australian voices in roundtable discussions about the big issues facing our state.
On Wednesday, Ms Adamou is joined by Melinda Parent, creative director and founder of the all-female led advertising agency Oranje Creative, and Flinders University Professor Maria Parappilly OAM, Fellow of the Australian Institute of Physics. Hosted by The Advertiser senior journalist Rebecca Whitfield-Baker, the panel will discuss challenges such as pushing boundaries, encouraging more female students to take up STEM subjects, and the pressures women face in trying to have it all.
Watch the conversation now: adelaidenow.com.au/fearless-conversations. Register for Fearless Conversations at flinders.edu.au/fearless/conversations
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