By Anonymous, Guest Contributor
I recently had the opportunity to attend and speak at the 2-Day "Public Sector Women of Colour Leadership & Allyship Summit". With over 30 speakers predominantly from CARM (Culturally and Racially Marginalised) backgrounds, I can safely say - this summit changed my life. When I use the term 'CARM', that isn't to suggest women from racially and culturally diverse backgrounds perceive or believe themselves to be less or on the margins because of their culture or race, but rather, it is to identify the systems and processes that marginalise our experiences and limit us from reaching our true potential. Now, I've attended several conferences and summits in my expansive career , I've often been one of the few coloured women in attendance. This often meant uncomfortable questions about my cultural heritage, comments about my "clean" accent or "great" command of the English language, and for some reason a general disbelief that l could be interested in a career pathway that includes leadership positions.
Unfortunately, there are so few women of colour in leadership positions in both the private and public sector that it can be impossible for people to view us as anything beyond a cog in the wheel. Attending the second annual "Public Sector Women of Colour Leadership & Allyship Summit" organised by The Hatchery in late August made me feel like I was wrapped in a warm blanket in Winter's coldest day being served hot chocolate - it felt like home. From the riveting speakers, to the culturally in tune networking opportunities and the halal lunch options, I felt both comfortable and intrigued, so… how much longer till CARM women get their fair shot at being leaders in the public sector?
Systematic Bias and Hiring Practises
A common theme addressed by almost every speaker and panel member was the systematic bias in hiring practises across Australia. In a recent study conducted by Monash University's Economics Professor Andreas Leibbrandt on discrimination in hiring practises, Leibbrant found, "despite identical resumes, ethnic minorities received 57.4 per cent fewer callbacks than applicants with English names for leadership positions. For non-leadership positions, ethnic minorities received 45.3 per cent fewer callbacks". These statistics hold true irrespective of gender. The study goes on to discuss "implicit leadership theory", in which ethnic minorities are not believed to have the characteristics or appearance of what our culture has come to understand of leadership.
So… in a country where public sector leadership has predominantly been 'white' and 'male', how are CARM women ever meant to breakthrough?
Over the 2-day summit, the topic of inclusive recruitment made its star appearance multiple times. An inclusive recruitment process starts with removing markers on resumes and cover letters that could identify both race and gender. These markers include name, location, display picture, gendered language, and university name. This process (also known as blind recruitment) removes the burden of potential candidates having to shorten their names or opt for an English sounding name to have a better shot at a job. Once a pool of potential candidates have been selected the next step includes sending applicants interview questions and the position responsibilities in advance. This gives applicants who are multi-lingual and have non-Australian accents ample opportunity to prepare answers that highlight their competencies and capabilities, while also taking out the time to practise - this aspect is crucial, especially considering that ethnic minorities receive fewer interviews and therefore, have less opportunities to gain and refine their interview style. All interviewers should undergo unconscious bias training before entering an interview panel and an interview panel should always be racially and gender diverse to ensure a person's competencies and capabilities are given consideration over their appearance being similar or identical to a panel of interviewers. Additionally, during the Summit many members on the Accessibility Panel spoke about their unwillingness to share their disability and accessibility requirements during recruitment processes out of fear of further discrimination. An improved recruitment process would help to remove some of the additional barriers faced by CARM women with intersecting identities.
However, this inclusive recruitment process is just the start. Speakers who specialised in recruitment, talent acquisition and human resources spoke about the limitations of one-off unconscious bias training, the myopic approach of behavioural questions and recruitments' hyper-focus on local Australian experience. If we are to truly revolutionise the systematic bias of hiring practises and select better leaders, we need to rethink the meaning of leadership all together, but that's an essay for another time.
Speakers at the summit
No One Is 'Self-made' and Social Capital Matters
The concept of 'self-made' in reference to success and career progression never crossed my mind until the fateful day Forbes magazine decided to burn the world down by featuring Kylie Jenner as the world's youngest self-made billionaire in 2019. Thinking about the concept of 'self-made' in the public sector, lawyer and advocate Nyadol Nyuon made a statement that can only be described as raw and honest. Speaking to her own experiences, Nyuon explained that she does not see herself as self-made, luck isn't earnt and we all benefit from someone or somewhere.
While many in leadership positions or positions of influence will have us believe they are 'self-made' and earnt their way up the career ladder, it's important to note the role social capital plays in career progression. Social capital refers to the professional networks that increase people's chances at securing promotions, attaining knowledge, and being part of career defining projects. You can think of it as having the right friends, at the right time, getting you to the right places. Diversity Council of Australia (DCA) in a recent 2023 report titled, "Culturally and racially marginalised (CARM) women in leadership" addresses "inaccessible social capital" as a lock to career progression for CARM women. It's often difficult for CARM women to develop and nurture professional networks when they're new to Australian culture, English is only one of the languages they speak, and their interests don't coincide with popular aspects of Australian culture. Furthermore, some people leaders and talent acquisition consultants place a high level of importance on the schools, higher learning institutions and community clubs an individual has taken part in. This can make it near impossible for immigrant CARM women to nurture social capital due to lack of local experience. While there are plenty of examples of how it can be difficult to develop social capital in a workplace when left to your own devices, I've listed one example below;
Being invited to Friday after-office hour drinks
There are many reasons this can be challenging for a CARM woman who wants to be better acquainted with their co-workers, manager, or senior leaders. CARM women may not feel physically safe in a bar, they may have caregiving responsibilities for children or elderly family members after work hours, or they may be part of a religion or culture where alcohol is forbidden. Turning down an invitation for Friday after-office hour drinks often means turning down the opportunity to be visible, make a good impression with co-workers and managers, and most importantly be at the tip of their tongue when a new work opportunity is presented. This can be substantiated with DCA's 2023 report suggesting, "77% of CARM women surveyed agreed or strongly agreed that decisions about hiring and promotions are made through informal networks, which they struggled to access. "
While many employers and co-workers know CARM women are capable and competent, it is often the small and innocent workplace rituals that make it difficult for CARM women to establish themselves as personable and therefore in the front of mind for a new work opportunity. Many of us don't have a favourite AFL team, or fully understand Australian slang due to immigrating much later in life. I often wonder how many workplace jokes I missed because I assumed "arvo" meant an RV and not the afternoon during my first year in Australia. If we lived in a world where we could climb the career ladder purely based on merit and people could be "self-made", I wouldn't think much of these small cultural differences - but that is not the world we live in. Even in our Federal Government where 48.5% of overall directors are women, only 7.5% of these directors are CARM women. It is time we bust the myth of leaders and people of influence being "self-made" and begin acknowledging the role social capital plays in career success. Through acknowledging the role social capital plays in career progression we can build comprehensive development opportunities that give CARM women the access they need to bolster their career. These include but are not limited to;
1. Mentoring Programs: A program that matches CARM women (mentees) with culturally safe people leaders from mid-managerial levels are higher (mentors). Both parties meet on a regular basis to help the mentees career and personal development through advice, support, and resources. Mentoring programs tend to be directed by the mentee.
2. Sponsorship Programs: A program that matches CARM women with culturally safe executive leaders. Executive leaders are required to use their influence to introduce their sponsored individual to their professional networks, provide them opportunities to lead meetings / presentations / high value projects, and to assist them in securing promotions.
3. Coaching Programs: A program that matches CARM women with a culturally safe subject matter expert to participate in training, job shadowing opportunities, and career development conversations. Coaching programs tend to be directed by the coach and are performance focused.
Rethinking Allyship
One of the Summit moments that stood out to me was Claire Beattie's comments on rethinking allyship. Beattie shared the types of questions she receives by non-Indigenous people on a regular basis such as, "how do I talk to an Aboriginal person?", as though Aboriginal people are aliens. In her keynote speech, Beattie challenged us to think about allyship as friendship - if you wouldn't ask your friend that question then you shouldn't ask an Indigenous or CARM woman that question. If you wouldn't describe your friend using those words, then you shouldn't describe an Indigenous or CARM woman using those words. In her own words, allies don't demean or tokenise the very people with whom they claim to be allies.
There is a common assumption that we CARM women view ourselves as oppressed, and we live in a perpetual state of victimhood of our own doing. This couldn't be further from the truth. As a woman who is part of the CARM women classification, if I was asked to describe myself, I would say that I'm curious, responsible, organised, and want to leave the world just a little bit better than when I was born. However, in my experience many who claim to be an ally and are outside of my community seem to be more interested in discussing my thoughts on whether Islam oppresses women and the "war" in the Middle East (Note to the reader - I am not Middle Eastern). These questions often arise the moment my very Arabic name is known to an ally and there is an inherit assumption that my state of existing as a Muslim woman is oppressive. However, it is not my religious identity that feels oppressive to me as an adult with my own agency, rather it is the clear statistics shared earlier in this essay on systematic bias in hiring practises and inaccessible social capital that feel oppressive.
Being a good ally means slowing down and reflecting on the nature of our questions. It means sharing social capital with CARM women, bringing CARM women into meeting rooms where decisions are made and equipping them with the right information and agenda items in advance so they can prepare to bring their best.
I feel as though I could write a whole book about everything I learnt during the 2-day summit, there are many prominent themes and discussion areas that I haven't noted in this essay; conversations on authenticity, the wellbeing of CARM women, cultural load, and intersectionality to name a few. However, when I go back to my initial question, how much longer till CARM women get their fair shot at being leaders in the public sector? I hope the answer is, not much longer.
I had the opportunity to be in a room of over 100 women with different job profiles, at various stages of their careers, from different backgrounds and, upon actively listening to their stories, I saw promise, talent, and new styles of leadership going forward. Imagine what each of these women could do as leaders if we removed systematic biases, made social capital accessible and became true allies. Public sector leadership in the hands of CARM women could ensure an increase in accessible public transport systems, education systems that embed empathy, wellbeing, and truth-telling as part of national curriculum, a sustainable and community focused approach to healthcare increasing lifespans and so much more.
Sources:
https://www.dca.org.au/research/project/culturally-and-racially-marginalised-carm-women-leadership
https://www.dca.org.au/research/project/culturally-and-racially-marginalised-carm-women-leadership
https://www.dca.org.au/sites/default/files/carm_women_infographic_1_online_final.pdf