May I begin my presentation by acknowledging the traditional owners of the lands on which we are meeting, the Gadigal people of the Eora nation, and by paying our respects to their elders, past and present.
(Acknowledgments omitted)
It is a great pleasure to be with you all this afternoon as you celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the admission of women to INSEAD and to join you in celebrating the success of INSEADs women MBA graduates. This gathering of distinguished and successful women is both a tribute and a reminder: a tribute to your own energy and entrepreneurship, and a reminder of just how far the cause of womens rights has progressed over the past fifty years.
INSEAD is a distinguished school, recognised as one of, by some measures the, top global business schools. In terms of graduates incomes and the extent of professional networks, INSEAD enjoys a remarkable reputation. So, as graduates of the campus at Fontainebleau, Abu Dhabi, or Singapore, you have every right to be proud of and to celebrate your own personal achievements. Congratulations to each of you.
As I was preparing my remarks for this afternoon, I reflected on the themes that have underpinned both my speeches on international development assistance and the addresses I have given to various assemblies of women and girls over the past few months.
The fifth of the UNs Sustainable Development Goals is Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls. That is a deceptively simple goal, but it is a terrible fact that, across the developing world, discrimination against women and girls is a key barrier to development and a key contributor to poverty.
The UNs explanation of the goal sets out that:
While the world has achieved progress towards gender equality and womens empowerment under the Millennium Development Goals (including equal access to primary education between girls and boys), women and girls continue to suffer discrimination and violence in every part of the world.
Gender equality is not only a fundamental right, but a necessary foundation for a peaceful, prosperous and sustainable world.
Providing women and girls with equal access to education, health care, decent work, and representation in political and economic decision-making will fuel sustainable economies and benefit societies and humanity at large.
You would be justified in pointing out to me that my workplace the national Parliament is possibly one of the least diverse work places in the country. And although the Labor Party is on track to reach 50 percent womens representation in the Parliament having reached 48 percent following the election of Ged Kearney we still have work to do before our party fully represents Australia in all of its diversity.
Reaching this target isnt just important symbolically. Its important for two substantive reasons.
Some of the proudest achievements of Labor Governments happened because women were pushing for reform the National Disability Insurance Scheme, needs based funding for education, historic pay increases for social and community service workers. The second reason is more fundamental: having women at the Cabinet table means every policy discussion includes a perspective on how half our population will be affected. Without that voice decisions are often made that dont benefit all Australians.
It is true we are doing much better than our opponents, where just one in five of its members are female and diversity is lacking. In fact the stubborn homogeneity of the Coalition is a consistent feature of our political system. So too is their resistance to change, both passive and at times openly antagonistic. Recall the dismissal of Julia Gillard, Jenny Macklin, Tanya Plibersek, Nicola Roxon and I as a handbag hit squad; and quota girls. (I am always amused that quotas are dismissed as being anti-meritorious when gender based, but jealously defended when protecting National Party ministerial positions).
As a progressive party, Labor recognises that we have a responsibility to better reflect the diversity of the community.
The Federal Labor Caucus has three Indigenous members Linda Burney in the House of Representatives and Malarndirri McCarthy and Patrick Dodson in the Senate. And with Dr Anne Aly we have the Federal Parliaments first Muslim woman.
But our Parliament demonstrably needs greater diversity among our women representatives, and that cannot happen until our political parties value diversity in practice. Similarly, we all need to work actively to ensure that all our workplaces better reflect the diversity of the broader community.
But for all that still needs to be done here, the challenge is far greater in most of the developing world. In March, Plan International Australia released a particularly sobering report titled Half a Billion Reasons. On just two vectors marriage age and secondary education participation rates the report paints a confronting picture.
In Bangladesh, 52 percent of girls are married by the age of 18. In Malawi, 46 percent of girls are married by the age of 18, while in Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands, 22 percent of girls are married by the age of 18 and in Indonesia, 18 percent are married by the age of 18.
The figures on secondary school enrolment rates are similarly concerning. In Bangladesh, only 41 percent of girls make it to upper secondary school, while in Malawi, a mere 14 percent of girls attend upper secondary school. Its not much better in Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands where 18 and 27 percent respectively attend upper secondary school. Indonesia has best enrolment rate for girls, with 74 percent attending upper secondary school. We know that the flow-on benefits from investing in girls education are substantial. According to the World Bank, the return on one year of secondary education for a girl correlates with as high as a 25 percent increase in wages later in life. And the effects carry from one generation to the next: educated girls have fewer, healthier and better educated children.
These figures illustrate the scale of the problem. They bring home the poignancy of words of Mary Jackson, one of the mathematicians whose abilities contributed critically to the success of NASAs program to get John Glenn into orbit.
Many of you would have seen Hidden Figures and would have winced at the institutional, physical and structural barriers that the central characters had to conquer. Her comment We go from being our fathers daughters to our husbands wives to our babies mothers holds true in so many parts of the developing world.
The best that can be said for gender equity in contemporary circumstances is that it remains a work in progress. There remain significant structural obstacles to equality of opportunity, equality in leadership, equality in recognition and, importantly, equality in remuneration.
In my view, we face a range of major challenges that intersect. It is for that reason that gender equity is a complex problem: it is multidimensional and multifactorial. And because the problem has so many moving parts, it is difficult to nail it in a single formula. The truth is that complex problems have messy solutions.
There are six principal areas in which we need to push harder if we are to create a level playing field for women, not just here in Australia, but globally, as meets INSEADs aspirations in this domain. These six challenges are inter-related, which means that we can work with effect on six fronts at once.
First, we must value difference, not just gender difference, but as we go forward we must celebrate ethnic, cultural, professional and occupational difference between women. Everyone in this room is in a unique position to argue for and deliver gender equity to Indigenous women, women from ethnic minorities, women with disabilities, and women from the more marginalised parts of our society. Diversity in leadership means we better reflect the experience of the whole in our decisions. Or to put it in the inverse: decision-making is not improved because certain parts of our community are excluded.
All of us here have been fortunate enough to be given the educational and career opportunities denied to so many merely by circumstances of birth or economy. But with such good fortune comes great responsibility.
This brings me to the second of the challenges supporting and championing other women. Success is made up of many parts: ability, determination, opportunity, luck and more. And achievement is never a solo project. It always demands the support, encouragement or engagement of others.
This means that we have a responsibility to proactively use our positions, our relationships, our networks, our experience and our insights to help other women achieve. To offer a career changing opportunity or make that all-important introduction, to open doors or offer seats at the table.
So this is a personal commitment we each can make, to make a difference to individual women to their opportunities and to their development.
Many of us here undoubtedly has a debt to a woman who took us under her wing at some crucial stage in our careers. We should maintain and strengthen this virtuous circle. And in doing so also make sure we put enough effort into encouraging and mentoring women in disparate professions and employment, to connecting with women in different ethnic communities, and to helping women with disabilities find their place in the leadership circles of our nation.
Storytelling or the creation of positive narrative is also an aspect of empowerment. My daughters are endlessly encouraged by the stories of Harriet Tubman or Helen Keller and others.
I am privileged to have many opportunities to speak to girls and young women and I try to impart the optimism and courage we all need to bring about change. And while some of you might think that you lack the sorts of platforms that politicians have to spread the good word, it may be worth applying your entrepreneurial skills to building such platforms. You understand better than I the power of first mover advantage.
The third challenge we face in generating gender equity and building the role of women in the workforce is ensuring the skills, expertise and professionalism of women are recognised, valued and utilised.
The biggest barrier to women progressing to senior positions in their field is the belief we dont hold the specific experience necessary. Many of you would know suitable and highly qualified women who simply do not put themselves forward for senior positions on the grounds that they either think that they lack the qualifications for the job, whatever they might be, or think that they lack the requisite experience, whatever that might be.
I saw this first hand during the time I was Finance Minister. For women, getting their first board appointment was the often toughest barrier to senior leadership experience. We established BoardLinks to overcome that barrier and create a database of women suitable for appointment to government boards. In 2013 we met our target of 40 percent representation by women on government boards two years ahead of schedule.
The fourth challenge is to deal with the institutional barriers that confront women, often at every turn. I am here reminded of another one of Mary Jacksons sharp observations: every time we get a chance to get ahead they move the finish line.
We all know about the barriers confronting women in professions, particularly those who also want to or have carer responsibilities. Women are often encouraged to jobs that offer fewer prospects for progression, promotion and leadership. Some self-select out of those roles in the belief that they are incompatible with also having caring responsibilities. And when women do take time out of the workforce to raise families, they face significant obstacles on their return.
We cannot ignore the structural factors and institutionalised barriers that working women face across all industries, be it law, business, hospitality, retail, aged care and community services.
We cannot ignore the fact that there are more men named John than there are women as head of the top 200 ASX companies, or that despite women making up 70 percent of the workforce in community and social services, just over 50 percent of executive roles in this sector are held by women.
We all know of men who have started off on the shop floor and ended up as corporate CEOs. But I am yet to hear of a female shop assistant who ends up running a major retail chain. And even if she has we wouldnt hear about it. This is an institutional and structural problem that we must attack collectively. If women do not set about liberating women everywhere, who else will?
The institutional barriers can be as simple as planning, discussions and decisions occurring in men only venues such as clubs, on golf courses or in the corporate box at a sporting event.
At other times, of course, they can be a lot more premeditated: all male planning and consultative committees, all male selection panels, anointed candidates carrying the imprimatur of the CEO, or downright discrimination on the grounds of she lacks the mental toughness or, if she does have the mental toughness, shes got an issue with men.
I am sure that all of you were appalled at the way Julia Gillard was treated as Prime Minister. With respect for neither Julia nor the office of Prime Minister, shock jocks, commentators, cartoonists, and Coalition politicians (including senior women) turned on her for the way she lived her life, managed her relationships, dressed, spoke and furnished her kitchen. I cannot recall a man, least of all a Prime Minister, having ever been subject to such a deeply personal onslaught.
Though think of what the reaction might be if they were.
The fifth challenge that we need to tackle head on is to encourage more men to help generate change rather than resist it. Gender equity is not a zero sum game, nor is it a clash of identity politics, nor even an old fashioned battle of the sexes. It is about fairness and merit. It is about ensuring our daughters have the same opportunities as our sons.
For leaders, it is about getting the best of and from the people we lead. And that is something to which all leaders can aspire.
These sentiments coincide with the second goal of INSEADs Gender Initiative to: Actively engage men in our efforts to support the professional advancement of women.
In 2010, the former Sex Discrimination Commissioner at the Australian Human Rights Commission, Elizabeth Broderick, moved decisively to engage men in generating change. With eight years under its belt, Male Champions for Change is engaging men to demonstrate how equality benefits both men and women in leadership. But so much more remains to be done, both within Australia and within our region.
No discussion of gender equity and the role of men in addressing it is complete without a realistic appraisal of the destructive effect of violence.
Family violence and violence against women more generally is one of the indicators of how deeply entrenched discrimination against women continues to be. Professor Heather Douglas, from the University of Queensland, pointed out last November just how prevalent violence against women is. Women are nearly three times more likely to be subject to physical violence than men are. She again made the point that broader attitudes towards women and relationships need to change, and that this takes a long time. But notwithstanding the various campaigns seeking to create the deep and enduring cultural change, especially in male attitudes, she noted that it is probably too early to see results.
My point is a simple one: while these rates of violence against women remain so high with all their health, well-being and economic consequences gender equity remains a long way off.
That brings me to the sixth and final challenge: staying the course. We have to stay determined in the face of the structural challenges that exist. Women who challenge the status quo inevitably bump against some of the barriers we are seeking to break down before we break through them.
History has taught us equality never comes easy. It must be fought for and it must be won.
It was true of the women fighting for suffrage; it was true of workers fighting for decent wage equality; as it was for married women fighting for the right to remain in paid employment; and it has been true of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex Australians fighting for equality before the law.
To stay determined through the inevitable setbacks, to continue to fight when it seems change will never come, we must take heart from those who have gone before us and won.
Take faith that no one regrets fighting for what is right. The fight to achieve gender equality for women across the world is, as the UN described: a necessary foundation for a peaceful, prosperous and sustainable world.
With our skills, success and positions, we are in a position of considerable advantage when it comes to improving the prospects of women generally. Whether we are in the professions, in corporate management, in consulting or in politics, we can generate change. We can all work towards our common goal of an equal and inclusive world. It is the greatest gift we can make to our community, and the greatest inheritance we can leave to future generations.