F EATU RES
We cannot achieve diversity by replacing white men with white women
The following article was published September 2021 in Women’s Agenda – see https:// womensagenda.com.au – a publication run by Agenda Media – a women-only owned and run news agency which reports on politics, business, leadership, technology, innovation and life from the perspective of professional women and female entrepreneurs. Agenda Media has published more than 1,600 newsletters with over 9,500 stories!!
We are two women. Both women of colour, both lawyers, both who have collectively put in a couple of thousands of hours of volunteer work for our communities. Both have had to work hard to create a space for ourselves.
One of the two authors is our very own Council member and Chairperson of the Governance and Nominations subcommittee, Molina Asthana. The other author is Tu Le who was in a Labor Party preselection contest in Sydney’s western suburbs Fowler seat with Kristina Keneally.
Yet we are struggling to shatter the double-glazed glass ceiling that women of colour face. Many women of diverse backgrounds like us are well qualified, hardworking, conscientious and community minded. But we have to work doubly hard to prove ourselves, our mistakes are picked up and scrutinised more so than others and our efforts are constantly undermined.
One is the first woman of South Asian background to be elected the Vice President of any Law Society and the other had the potential to be the first Federal parliamentarian of Vietnamese heritage.
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