IWD2023: “Women are the most untapped resources,” - Women in Tourism & Hospitality - Western Australia (WITH WA) Chairperson
“Women are arguably the most untapped resources. Having greater female representation in leadership will help to increase female participation in our sector, and ultimately, this will change the lives of women and families.”
WITH WA, run by a passionate team of committees and is an incorporated not-for-profit association, works to recognise the challenges and opportunities for women in the sector and advocates for greater balance.
In her collection of short videos, Anneke Brown, Chairperson, Women in Tourism & Hospitality - Western Australia (WITH WA) shares her experience about ‘social innovation’, women empowerment in leadership roles, and her thoughts on gender equity.
1. Can you briefly tell us about Women in Tourism and Hospitality WA?
WITH WA was established in 2019 by 10 professional women in the tourism and hospitality industry here in WA. We joined together to create a space where women could come together to network, connect, share opportunities, and support one another.
The organisation works to recognise the challenges but also the opportunities that women face in the sector, and advocates for greater balance. WITH W A membership is quite diverse so we represent women from all across the sector of tourism and hospitality, both in the cities and out in the regions of WA.
Our aim is to recognise the challenges and opportunities for women and really advocate for that greater balance across the leadership roles within the industry. Our vision is to inspire, motivate, connect, encourage, mentor, and support women across the tourism and hospitality industry.
2. How is Women in Tourism and Hospitality WA contributing to empowering women to be more innovative, especially in leadership roles?
In 2023, we will deliver on one of our vision items of mentoring. We will launch our WITH WA insights mentor circle programme– a fantastic mentoring programme that brings together forward-thinking, progressive, visionary leaders from the tourism and hospitality industry who had the drive to help develop that next generation of female leaders. WITH WA has a vision to address these challenges and mitigate barriers to career progression for aspiring female leaders. Mentoring and assisting up-and-coming females to advance their skills and bolster the industry with empathetic skilled and understanding leaders is really at the core key pillars of our association.
Our “Why” is to make it easier for women to develop the confidence and opportunities that are invaluable in succeeding in our industry. We want our future female leaders to learn the key leadership and life skills that they need to succeed and thrive. This programme offers support through demonstrating and teaching the career skills that our future generation needs to become resilient and successful. The programme enables us to help women in the industry to have the support and guidance they need to take that next step into leadership.
3. What comes to your mind when you hear the term ‘social innovation’ and how does it relate to gender equity?
Below is a truncated version, click on the video for Anneke’s full answer.
Social Innovation to me really speaks about the people’s awareness of the social impacts that our policies and procedures have on society, on the social fabric of our community. In regards to gender equity, it's about recognition of the conscious and unconscious bias that exists around women and men in the workplace and how to overcome this challenge with new innovative activities to deal with that social need.
If we look at the current state of play here in Australia, […] whilst there are improvements, there is a significant way to go. The message that sends to women is that the work they do is of less value than that of a man. […] Employers must take action to ensure the work of all their employees is valued and that there is pay equity. By closing Australia's pay gap, we will improve the lives of Australian women their families and the community as a whole.
Social innovation is essential: Understanding the challenges and forming solutions that address this social need is critical […] Recently the Australian government has announced significant reforms to build or enhance the childcare subsidy that we receive, and this recognises the dire need to support and enable encourage women back into the workforce. This is just an example of how policies can support greater female participation in the workforce
4. What benefits do you see of social innovation in the tourism industry?
Social Innovation, in my understanding, aligns with EQ. It's the emotional intelligence that organisations need to focus on to improve their workplace by improving female participation in the tourism and hospitality industry specifically, we bolster the industry with empathetic skilled and innovative leaders. There's a study by Harvard Business Review that found that women actually ranked more highly than men in 12 out of the top 16 leadership qualities and that includes our problem-solving, communication skills and innovativeness.
5. What’s the ONE message that you would like to send to the industry on achieving gender equity in tourism?
My one message is that we are at a time in our industry when we're facing serious workforce shortages. The solution requires a more diverse and experienced workforce, and women are arguably the most untapped resource.
Women face unique challenges in their journey to reach leadership roles because their career pathway is not always straightforward. We've seen many women step away at the same time they reach that mid-career point, or who take periods of time off as they attempt to balance career and family. By getting women back into the workforce and supporting women who are aspiring to become or to transition into leadership through programmes such as the WITH insights mentor circle programme, we can assist to meet workforce shortages in the short term and the national economy in the longer term.
We strongly believe that having greater female representation in leadership will help to increase female participation in our sector; ultimately this will change the lives of women and families.
