Careers in Colour #6: February Edition

Written By Careers In Colour

Meet CiC member Elaine, and check out the latest news, events and opportunities in the DEI space

“For me, IWD is a chance to push for more open discussions about intersectional representation."

What are your roles and responsibilities as a core member of Careers In Colour?

At Careers in Colour, I’ve mainly be driving and helping deliver our events - of which, we try to do a few each year. Our events are one of the main ways we try to build community and they’re a chance for us to create space for people to discuss, learn and connect about their experiences as people of colour in their careers. This often involves working closely with the team to decide key themes, panellists, venues, and potential partners. Outside of events, like most members of the CiC Team, I do a bit of everything else too - including building out our key programs.

Why did you co-found Careers in Colour?

A few years ago, I was just starting out my career after graduating from university. I found myself in lots of conversations with friends and peers about the big transition to full-time work and navigating the corporate workplace for the first time. A lot of these conversations came back to feelings of frustration around a lack of cultural diversity in senior leadership and how discouraging it was as someone starting out their career. These conversations were happening amongst a backdrop of the COVID pandemic (which meant we had a lot of free time on our hands) and so we decided to channel our energy into something more productive. We launched in late 2021 and have since run a number of community-building events, creating spaces where people can continue having these kinds of conversations.

How does International Women's Day (IWD) resonate with you personally and professionally?

For me, IWD is a chance to push for more open discussions about intersectional representation. Too often, organisations use IWD to celebrate and champion the most privileged voices - the day has much more potential. The panels and events in the lead up to the day and on the day are generally not very diverse - this can make women from marginalised backgrounds feel even more isolated and excluded.

Are there any women who have inspired you in your career? How have their stories or achievements influenced your approach to DEI?

There are many women who have inspired me in my career - formal coaches, informal mentors and peers. Their approaches to leadership have been especially inspiring - I’ve learnt so much from them, but here are just a few things that I have observed in their style that try to emulate in my approach to DEI:

Open and authentic - they share their own mistakes and lessons learned; they share what they are trying to work on / gaps in their own knowledge

Consider cultural context - they acknowledge that the people they work with come from different cultures and this can affect how they are at work (e.g., how comfortable they are in certain situations)

Call things out - they make clear what behaviours will not be tolerated and signal what behaviours will be celebrated - they are always direct.

❓Poll: Which platform?

As a collective, we know there’s space for two-way sharing of interesting articles, events and questions. We’d love to hear from you on the preferred platform to host this space. Vote in our poll here.

📖 In the newsroom and things to check out

  • The Workplace Gender Equality Agency has just released the gender pay gap for private sector employees. The data shows 50% of employers pay the median woman at least 9.1% less than the median man. The AFR also released a useful article on what we mean by the gender pay gap.

  • Mr Giridharan Sivaraman has been announced as the next Race Discrimination Commissioner and will commence his term on 4 March 2024.

  • Hue released an article on how to implement anti-racism training safely in your workplace.

  • Diversity Council Australia (DCA) hosted a panel event discussing insights on what’s next for reconciliation, how we can redouble our efforts by centring First Nations’ voices and lived experiences, recognising and hearing truth telling, and naming and addressing racism. A recording of the event can be found here.

🗓 More events and opportunities

Careers In Colour
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Careers in Colour #7: On IDERD and a special invitation
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Careers in Colour #5: 2023 Wrapped