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Two-day workshop delivered for Shenton College’s gifted and talented students tackling bias busting and gender inequities

Thursday, 07 November 2019

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On the 20 and 25 September ECU hosted a two-day workshop for a group of Shenton College’s Gifted and Talented program Year 10 students addressing gender equality, equity and leadership development.

On Day One ECU Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Strategic Partnerships) Professor Cobie Rudd gave a personally-insightful presentation on ‘The Imposter Syndrome’. This was followed by a Career Journey Panel with three leading ECU academics; Professor Julie Anne Pooley, Associate Dean, School of Arts and Humanities and Associate Professor Justin Brown, Associate Dean (Teaching and Learning) School of Science, along with ECU’s Guild President Abhishek Mehta and Professor Cobie Rudd. They described their varied career journeys and gave the students tips on how they could capitalise on opportunities presented to them.  A female student asked Professor Julie Ann Pooley; “How have you been able to maintain a work/life balance”. A male student posed a probing question to Professor Rudd asking what practical advice she could give him so that he could best help advance women in his future workplace while also still furthering his own career.

Other sessions included gender and stereotyping, and unconscious bias, facilitated by the Centre for Learning and Teaching and Human Resources Services Centre. Also in the mix was a session on emotional intelligence and leadership, facilitated by the School of Business and Law. On Day Two the workshop culminated in students circulating the room interviewing academics from disciplines including science, engineering, psychology, nursing, aviation and sports medicine.

When asked about what impact the career journey sessions had on their thoughts about future study, students responded: “It impacted my preference on what to study”; “I learnt to focus on my passions, what I myself want to pursue, even if it is outside what is expected of me”; and “You can do anything!”.

Professor Cobie Rudd said that her relationship with Ms Bree Hansen the Coordinator of Gifted and Talented Education at Shenton College had sparked the idea for this workshop.

Discussions are already underway to repeat the workshop in 2020.

"It was really interesting to witness the views of professors and academics – it was really eye opening and definitely broadened my scope regarding the workforce and bias within it."

"Just because the sky is blue doesn’t mean girls can’t fly."

"Great workshop would recommend."

"I would now consider ECU as a University option."

"I learnt to not stress too much about what I want to do in the future as ultimately it’s subject to change."

Student participants’ feedback

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