On Thursday 11th March, I was able to take part in two fantastic opportunities held by King’s College London’s Global Institute for Women’s Leadership. Having attended their talks before, they invited me to not only attend another event, held by Julia Gillard, a former Australian prime minister, but also to take part in a round table discussion led by Julia Gillard and Professor of Politics at King’s College, Rosie Campbell, as well as eight other women in positions of leadership across the globe.
The first event held was focused on gender inequality, and the importance of research in the fight for women’s leadership to prevail. They focused on research provided by Kelly Beaver, Managing Director of Ipsos MORI’s Public Affairs division, highlighting the damaging effect that the Covid-19 pandemic has had on women’s rights, with women absorbing on average six and a half hours a day of extra domestic work. However, the most shocking statistic was regarding the gender pay gap, with 20% of people not believing it even exists.
This event had a really profound effect in demonstrating how the push for women’s rights is now more important than ever, as the pandemic risks a reversal of progress made, with participants in the discussion noting that we risk reverting back to 1950s societal attitudes if action is not taken. Despite the deeply concerning content of this conference, two days later, when a group of us convened for the round table discussion, there was a much deeper focus on active solutions. This included a discussion on the irony of hybrid and virtual working, supposedly making it easier for women to have more flexible career paths. However, so far, furloughing and virtual working have further trapped women in domestic roles, with little hope of getting back in the workplace. However, we discussed the power of harnessing technology as a tool to invite more women into the workplace, who otherwise may not have had the opportunity to work in such a hybrid fashion. We also discussed the power of philanthropy in tackling certain changes head on and making entrepreneurial decisions which perhaps governments cannot risk until results prove successful.
I thoroughly enjoyed the round table discussion and listening to women with experience of working in government, universities, charities, and family companies from Melbourne to New York; the depth of insight proved highly effective when discussing solutions for tackling these issues coming out of the pandemic for making leadership accessible to all women, not just the few.
I feel so fortunate to have been able to contribute to such a moving, profound and engaging conversation with an emphasis on diversity of opinion, and provide my own views as someone who has only just transitioned into adulthood and give insight into the importance of protecting young girls, in particular from the implications of the pandemic.