Challenging Gender Bias Begins with Education
#BreakTheBias this International Women’s Day: Loreto College Old Scholar Alice Dawkins Proves Challenging Gender Bias Begins with Education
To reject and overcome gender stereotypes is core to Loreto College Marryatville’s future focused ethos. The Independent girls’ College in Adelaide is on a mission to challenge the status quo of gender stereotypes and shape their graduates into confident and passionate young women.
Building on the ethos of her Loreto education, Old Scholar Alice Dawkins took the passion and confidence built during her time at the school to mount a political challenge against the party-preferred candidate for South Australia’s safest federal seat whilst working as a Strategy Consultant at leading Asian strategy and consulting firm, Lydekker.
Encouraged by the extra-curricular opportunities presented by Loreto College, Dawkins credits the school for helping to find her niche, hone her interests, and build a network of peers and mentors to assist on a journey of professional success. Highlighting that early exposure to humanities, social sciences and specialised language programs shaped a clear and attainable career path.
“As a teenager, I never thought this type of analytical work existed outside of more traditional roles in diplomacy and government. I think the lesson there is that if you’re specialised enough, and nurture a strong community of peers and mentors, the right opportunities inevitably emerge.”
For Dawkins this has included career highlights such as the opportunity to provide a contributing byline in the New York Times Saturday Profile. The feature detailed the sensational story on a real-life opium dealer in the Golden Triangle, Olive Yang.
“Compassionate and meaningful storytelling on Asian lives is at the core of what I try to do. We worked really hard to tell the story as close to Olive’s terms as possible, rather than through the lens of the many Anglo-American men who had exoticised and fetishised her story.”
Dawkins acknowledges there is a nexus between her professional work and being a part of a broader social movement seeking to #BreakTheBias. She credits the foundations of her time at Loreto and ongoing tertiary training as a catalyst for her ability to navigate the complex professional landscape in which the gender divide is far too prevalent.
“I’ve had a really good run in my career so far, and I think it’s because I’m very choosy about who I work with. During my master’s program, l benefited from formal and informal training on navigating high-impact workplaces as women. I’m lucky to have fierce mentors and friends in my circle, and I’ve become much more comfortable launching frank and tough conversations in the workplace when needed.”
Dawkins recalls a standout piece of advice given to Dawkins on the topic of gender and work during a session with Ngaire Woods, Dean of the Blavatnik School of Government, Oxford University.
“Ngaire embodies the pinnacle of the principles we are taught as women navigating corridors of power. She is thoughtful, energetic, and always the best-prepared in the room. She is so fully focused on uplifting the next generation and makes it clear that it's a team effort. As she told my cohort, we will be asked more and more to recommend and refer others as we progress in our careers, and the onus is on us to ensure diversity in our recommendations. You'll only get to egalitarian outcomes if you're presenting people in power with diverse options, and proactively advocating for them.”
Embodying this advice, Dawkins recently launched a bid to enter the Australian parliament via the seat of Spence, formerly known as the seat of Wakefield. United with all Australian’s who were appalled by the grim stories flowing out of Canberra in 2021, Dawkins was inspired by political leaders and media encouragement for young women to enter parliament to challenge the arbitrary and lingering gender biases.
“I knew I had a slim chance in Spence, but I knew I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t challenge it. Too often, in government and in business, we put low female leadership numbers down to a pipeline problem. That's not the problem at all - there are plenty of capable women in the pipeline. It's the gatekeepers who are threatened by them who are the problem."
My preselection challenge involved advocacy on internal rule governing female representation quotas, known as affirmative action rules. On my analysis, national rules were being bent. My Loreto mindset gave me the gumption to act with integrity and push hard against a process I felt was inconsistent with historic values that should be protected. The grace of acting with verity and sincerity, and arguing on principles is you may lose a battle, but you’ll win the war.”
In speaking to the future generation of powerful young girls, Dawkins says:
“Someone once told me you need to spend your early career developing ‘functional expertise’. That means carving out some niches and becoming an identifiable expert in them, so people start to come to you. You’ll only truly excel when you’re pursuing topics you truly find interesting.”
Dawkins graduated from the third cohort of the Schwarzman Scholars program at Tsinghua University, a residential program designed to train future global leaders. She maintains an active role in business associations and public policy networks. More recently, she accepted a fellowship from the University of California, Los Angeles and is utilising this opportunity to work on real-life governance challenges for the Asian internet.
Loreto College Upcoming Term 1 Tour Dates:
College Tour - Friday 11 March (Week 6) 9:00am
ELC Open Morning & Picnic - Saturday 26 March (Week 8) 10.30am
College Tour - Friday 1 April (Week 9) 9.00am
About Loreto College
Loreto College Marryatville is South Australia’s leading all-girls day and boarding schools, catering for students from Early Learning to Year 12.
Established in 1905, a Loreto education is built on a 400-year-old tradition first inspired by the founder of Loreto schools worldwide, Mary Ward, and encapsulates her beliefs in delivering an education which inspires strong, passionate, and confident girls and young women.
In delivering this view, Loreto College Marryatville provides girls with a well-rounded education where students are presented with a broad range of opportunities and given the support and encouragement to become confident and engaged learners with the knowledge and skills to make a difference to their world.
