BE BRAVE, BE AN ALLY AND HIDE THE VEGETABLES

by Natalie Perez , SheLeadsTech Coordinator of the ISACA Melbourne Chapter

Natalie Hingco Perez is the SheLeadsTech Coordinator in the ISACA Melbourne Chapter. She led a committee of volunteers from SheLeadsTech Melbourne, ISACA Melbourne Chapter, ISACA Sydney Chapter, EY Women In Tech and AWSN that organised a day-long hybrid event to celebrate International Women’s Day 2023. In this article, Natalie identifies the top three things she learnt from organising the event, and shares her views as a participant.

I am fortunate to be a volunteer on committees such as SheLeadsTech Melbourne which recently held an International Women’s Day event in collaboration with the Australian Women in Security Network (AWSN), ISACA Melbourne Chapter, ISACA Sydney Chapter and EY Women In Tech. The event, with the theme Cracking the Code to Embrace Equity, was virtual and on-premises with participants in EY offices in Sydney and Melbourne and comprised four presentation sessions and two panel sessions. Here are the top three lessons I learnt as a participant.

Be Brave By Being Responsible

Firstly, I was able to gain a better understanding of the metaverse, of how artificial intelligence works, of the opportunities and challenges they will create for the industry, and how these will impact diversity and inclusion. I am one of many who have felt fear and concern about the metaverse and AI. My concerns extend to my children, because these will be the technologies they will encounter as young adults. I need to understand these technologies, what they can do and how to embrace them.

The risks of both technologies must be managed

The big corporates with the capabilities to develop, enhance and extend the metaverse and AI must take responsibility and be held accountable. This responsibility entails making ethical investments and ensuring the data and codes behind the metaverse and AI exclude any form of aggression. The Internet has already demonstrated that suppressing inappropriate content is a huge task and a huge responsibility.

The users of artificial intelligence must also take responsibility to train it well. Chatbots powered by AI are continually enhanced by input from users ranking and rating the responses they receive. Such feedback is important but must be validated by those responsible for an AI system before it is accepted.

Samantha Lengyel of decoded.AI told the audience ChatGPT could be useful if it provides its users with relevant information. For example, ChatGPT might be able to generate a seven-day pescatarian menu for me that has a low glycaemic index and is high in protein.

Be An Ally

According to one speaker, inclusive workplaces advocate and author Karen Catlin, there are seven types of allies: sponsor, champion, advocate, amplifier, scholar, upstander and confidant.

Another speaker, Angela Anthony of Dulux Group, described a conversation with one of the female managers at Dulux interested in applying for a higher role in the company but hesitant because she was pregnant. Anthony’s response carried a powerful message.

“Firstly, congratulations to you and your hubby on your pregnancy. You should celebrate that. Secondly why not apply for that role if you want it? Is it because you are pregnant? If you are accepted, that is more great news to celebrate. And if you go on parental leave, it is the hiring manager’s responsibility to find someone to do the job whilst you are away.”

With companies now adopting the term ‘parental leave’ instead of ‘maternity leave’, fathers of newborns can take paid leave to participate in of the care of their children, some until the newborn is two years old. This enables them to support mothers returning to the workforce from their maternity leave, and build relationships with their children.

HIDE THE VEGETABLES!

Gail Bray from the Wyndham Tech(nology) School (WTS) in the western suburbs of Melbourne described her program to spark students’ interest in STEM. WTS and its partners have run programs featuring STEM problems and case studies. Bray has adopted an approach she calls “hiding the vegetables” to make learning and developing skills in STEM enjoyable for students. It entails packaging the STEM content in something more appealing to students.

As a result of having STEM in the curricula of Years 7 and 8 the ratio of female to male students has improved from 5:95 in 2020 to 52:48. Imagine how many girls would consider a career in STEM if STEM were included in the high school curriculum until Year 12.

I am grateful to have been given the opportunity to meet virtually and in person with the volunteers who helped organise our International Women’s Day event. The resource persons on such events are passionate about being able to increase the representation of women in technology and support them to thrive and be successful in their endeavours. I learnt much from the event, especially: Be Brave, Be an Ally and Hide the Vegetables.

www.linkedin.com/in/natalie-hingco-perez-74298436