Make a tax-deductible donation to support CEDA's transformative agenda and help accelerate change
“Women are pioneering the economic and social shift in today's society”, the Hon. Anna Bligh told a CEDA audience in Melbourne.
27/08/2014
“Women moving out of the domestic sphere is changing everything – economy, workplaces, election debates.”
At the event, part of CEDA’s Women in Leadership series, Ms Bligh discussed the headway women are making – from a time “when Parliament House had no female restrooms” to today.
“Every time we leave the house to go to work … we are pioneering”, she said.
This event asked the question: Is women’s underrepresentation in leadership positions a symptom of gender role stereotyping?
“Eighty six per cent of leaders unconsciously believe women are less competent and assertive than men”, Founder and Director, Psynapse Psychometrics, Dr Jennifer Whelan said.
Dr Whelan pointed out four unconscious beliefs that serve as barriers for women:
These perceptions aren’t true, Dr Whelan said. In fact, “the difference in leadership styles between genders is so small you'd need a magnifying glass to see it”.
Company Director, Catherine Walter AM, illustrated how unconscious stereotyping works when she discussed two groups of people being given the same information about the career of a successful entrepreneur. One group was told the entrepreneur was a man, and one group was told the entrepreneur was a woman.
The male was voted higher “hands down on likeability, whether he’d make a better employee and what type of team member he’d be”, she said.
The female was voted much higher as “power-hungry and disingenuous”.
Representatives for the Uluru Youth Dialogue, the Uluru Convention and Reconciliation Australia were among the speakers who took to the CEDA stage to speak about the Voice, setting out how it would improve outcomes for Indigenous Australians.
Read more Leadership | Diversity | Inclusion December 10, 2019This collection features the most influential and interesting speeches from the CEDA platform throughout the year.
Read more Leadership | Diversity | Inclusion August 15, 2016There are things to be optimistic and pessimistic about in achieving true gender diversity both in Australia and globally, Woolworths, Nine Entertainment Co., AMP, Australia Post Non-Executive Director, Holly Kramer has a told a CEDA audience in Perth.
Read more