St Andrew’s College celebrated International Women’s Day with guest speakers at formal dinner, Council member Kate Harper and Senior Student Elisabeth Woodcock; a staff morning tea with speaker Vice Principal Dr Hester Wilson (and purple cupcakes); and a large screen showing of the annual Jessie Street International Women’s Day Lecture in the Senior Common Room. Students and staff also showed their support for women’s empowerment and gender equality by wearing the UN Women purple ribbons and donating to this great cause.
The theme of International Women’s Day 2022 is ‘Break the Bias’. At the St Andrew’s events, we heard about celebrating women’s achievements, raising awareness against bias and discussing what action we can all take for equality.
Imagine a gender equal world. A world free of bias, stereotypes and discrimination. A world that’s diverse, equitable, and inclusive. A world where difference is valued and celebrated. Together we can forge women’s equality. Collectively we can all #BreakTheBias.
Source: IWD 2022
Guest Speaker Kate Harper
Kate Harper is a Partner in the Board Practice at Johnson Partners. She has 20 years’ experience in the international board consulting and executive search market, having practised in London and Sydney. She advises companies on what skills they need at Board level and finds the most suitable Director candidates to fill them.
She has a particular focus on bringing more diversity, particularly gender diversity, into Australia’s boardrooms.
Following completion of legal study at the Universities of Sydney and Cambridge, Kate spent 12 years in London’s Investment Banking market. She has hands on experience of sitting on not-for-profit boards and enjoys contributing at a governance level.
Kate holds a Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Laws from the University of Sydney and a Masters of Law from Cambridge. She is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and a qualified Saville Wave administrator. Kate sits on the Council of St Andrew’s College, and as Chair of the Education & Student Life Committee, she is a member of the Council’s Executive Committee. She was previously on the Nominations and Assessment Committee of Amnesty International Australia.
Kate’s speech focused on two things;
- Firstly, what is relevant about IWD in the context of Drew’s.
- Secondly, how has Kate’s life journey shaped her thinking about IWD.
Kate said:
“The voices of Chanel Contos, Grace Tame and Brittany Higgins have recently had a marked impact on us all, and not before time.”
“To the women of Drew’s I say: be mindful that there is discrimination, learn to identify it and to call it out. Do this with grace and dignity as in some cases, it is not always intentional. Learn to identify what is known as unconscious bias and identify it with confidence and with the assumption that, it just needs to be knocked on the head each time it emerges, rather like an unwelcome cockroach appearing out of the woodwork and scuttling across the floor.”
“To the males of Drew’s, I call upon all of you to be mindful of this potential for bias, and to play a central role in calling out discrimination against women and to hold other men accountable. Without you, we can’t do it. A good question to ask yourselves is, what am I doing to empower women in my life and more generally?”
Read the full text of Kate’s speech here.
Elisabeth Woodcock, Senior Student 2022
Elisabeth’s speech started with a story that prompted us all to examine our own subconscious biases and went on to investigate the theme for 2022 IWD: #BreakTheBias.
Lis said:
“The reality is that these subconscious biases we have are so loud, and prominent in our everyday lives, that they have impacted career choices, wages, employment stability, and promotion decisions against women for centuries.”
“On an occasion such as this, it is also important to acknowledge that here at St Andrew’s, we women are extraordinarily privileged. Living in a wealthy country such as Australia and attending a prestigious university, it is easy to neglect the intersectional experiences of women that are not as privileged. In many countries (including Australia), women are far more disadvantaged; often not only because they are female, but also because they are Indigenous, are a person of colour, a member of the LGBTQIA+ community or experience a disability.”
“So, as we celebrate 20 years of Women at St Andrew’s, this year I implore the women in the room, to really back one another this year.”