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FEATURE: INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY
BREAKING THE BIAS
FOR THE PAST 101 YEARS, ST MARY’S ANGLICAN GIRLS’ SCHOOL HAS NOT ONLY INSPIRED GIRLS TO DISCOVER THEIR BEST BUT ALSO ENCOURAGED THEM TO CHALLENGE SOCIETAL NORMS IN THE PURSUIT OF EXCELLENCE. THAT IS WHY THE SCHOOL HAS ALWAYS TAKEN GREAT PRIDE IN CELEBRATING INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY (IWD), A GLOBAL DAY DEDICATED TO PROMOTING THE SOCIAL, ECONOMIC, CULTURAL AND POLITICAL ACHIEVEMENTS OF WOMEN. THE DAY ALSO MARKS A CALL TO ACTION FOR ACCELERATING WOMEN'S EQUALITY WORLDWIDE. THIS YEAR’S IWD THEME, #BREAKTHEBIAS, RESONATED STRONGLY WITH ST MARY’S, WHICH HAS BEEN A NURSERY FOR COUNTLESS WOMEN WHO HAVE BROKEN DOWN BARRIERS AND CREATED EXCITING PATHWAYS FOR OTHER FEMALES IN PROFESSIONAL AND NON-PROFESSIONAL SETTINGS.
AHEAD OF THIS YEAR’S IWD CELEBRATIONS, WE SPOKE WITH INSPIRING OLD GIRLS, FIONA HICK (CRESSWELL ’91) AND TALIA NICHOLSON (’10), TO DISCUSS THE WAYS THAT THEY ‘BROKE THE BIAS’ IN THEIR CAREERS AND HOW ST MARY’S HELPED TO SHAPE THEM INTO THE WOMEN THEY ARE TODAY.
FIONA HICK
In 2021, Fiona Hick became the first woman in 121 years to be elected President of The Chamber of Minerals and Energy of Western Australia (CME). Her elevation to one of Western Australia’s most senior roles was the result of an unwavering dedication to her engineering career and her ability to capitalise on earned opportunities. Unsurprisingly, it also involved tackling biases that existed in a male-dominated industry.
“It was a special moment when I realised that I was going to be the first woman to lead the CME. My appointment also came at an interesting time, with a number of horrifying stories surfacing about workplace culture in the industry, so I felt a real sense of opportunity to make the resources industry a great place for everyone to work. I have had a great career and I know many women who have had great careers in the industry as well, so I want to do my bit to make sure that we can have a lot of women come through the industry and have a great experience,” Fiona said.
“I would say that a lot of people have broken the bias before me and there have been a lot of people who have made life easier for me because of their courage and determination years ago. I think it is important to be aware of bias and to have the courage to call it out when you encounter it. “There have been times when I have experienced bias. Once when I had young kids, I was working part time and it was abundantly clear that my line manager at the time had never had anyone work part time and it was really breaking his mind. In a way he was biased towards one way of working, so I had to work through that for the arrangement to be successful.” Fiona believes that the education and support that she received at St Mary’s equipped her with the skills and strength of character to succeed in her career. “I think the most important lesson that I learned at St Mary’s was about having faith that you could really do anything that you put your mind to,” she said. “The teachers and the friends that I made there were all really supportive. I also think that I developed a quiet grit and sense of determination at St Mary’s which carried me through my life.”
INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY
Talia Nicholson encountered and overcame bias while establishing herself as a respected Combat Engineer in an Army Reserve unit that comprised 177 men and just three women. The Class of 2010 graduate said that debunking misconceptions about her ability to be an effective member of the unit was a journey for her and her colleagues. “There was an assumption that I had joined for the wrong reasons and that people would have to pick up the pieces after me because I was not capable of doing things. I had to fight to prove that I knew my skill set and that I could do plenty of tasks really well,” Talia said. “When I first started, I would go toe-to-toe with much older people to prove I could do things and that didn’t really work. I’ve learned over time that the best way in this industry, which has been male-dominated for so long, is instead of trying to argue and prove that you’re good at what you do, you just have to be good at what you do. “I have found things that I do extremely well and now I have people requesting to work with me because they know that I am knowledgeable and skilled. “I have learned the hard way that my actions speak a lot louder than my words. Now I try and lead by example; leading with that attitude change has made a huge difference to other girls who have joined my unit.” Talia said that she might not have had the confidence to advocate for herself or discover the tasks that she now excels at if she had not attended St Mary’s. “I was very shy when I started at St Mary’s. It really helped me to come out of my shell and realise that it’s okay if you’re not good at something, but you can still have a go,” she said. “Everyone always encouraged me when I said, ‘I want to do this’; someone at school would say, ‘Great, go on, just do it’. There was always an accommodation made and there was always someone there to support you. Even if you didn’t make it, there was never any discouragement and I think that was really important.”
