Girls made up two thirds of the top awards given to HSC students this week, with 67 recognised as topping the state in at least one of their subjects compared with 38 boys.
That’s not unusual, nor all that unexpected. Girls often blitz the boys when it comes to HSC results. Not because they’re naturally any smarter than their male counterparts, but put them on a playing field that involves assignments and exams and certain trends can emerge.
Today, 76,000 students around NSW will receive all their HSC results, following the almost 50,000 Victorians who received their VCE marks on Monday. There will be pride and disappointment. Tears and laughter. For some, it’ll feel like the end of the world — like the future they had so neatly drawn up has been erased. For others, it’ll be the beginning of new opportunities.
For all these students, however, there’s one thing those of us who’re a little older and more experienced can offer. Such marks do not define you as an individual, nor will they determine your future. They may open some doors now but you never know, the fact a few doors remain closed could actually present better opportunities in the long-run.
And for the female students, there are a few other things to remember.
There are many, many things that still stand in the way of great careers for women. Indeed, many workplaces are still not built to support female talent and some, have absolutely no intention of adjusting their culture and structures in order to better support women.
There is a pay gap in virtually every industry and you’ll probably encounter it — unless your plan is to become an obstetrician.
There are still very few women at the very top of major organisations: just a handful of ASX 200 CEOs are female, and barely 10% of women make it into the senior executive ranks. Despite decades and decades of identifying these issues and presenting solutions to help, progress has been painstakingly slow.
As you get older, you’ll probably learn more about the ‘have it all’ debate. People will kindly inform you what you can and can’t have when it comes to family and career. They’ll make assumptions about what you want, and what you’re capable of. Later again, you might start to wonder who invented this system of ‘work’ — all day Monday to Friday in a difficult-to-get-to office somewhere — that contributes to congestion on our roads, fails to correspond with school hours, and misses the point that with or without kids, running a household is difficult when those who’re primarily responsible for it are working for somebody else fifty hours a week.
Employers will tell you they offer flexible work, but the reality of them offering an actual flexible career might be very different.
The thing is that the sooner you know all this to be true, the earlier you can start to counter it. You can consider standing up to the status quo, and doing certain things to help make up for the male competitive advantage. You can even think about rejecting everything you’ve been told about what a successful career actually looks like to instead start defining success your own way.
While pursuing further education, you can chase employers you believe will actually work for you, rather than the other way around. You can ask yourself what kind of managers you want to work for, the employee you plan to be, and the purpose you want to bring into your work. You might like to think about the networks you’re creating, and how you can build and nurture them to facilitate more opportunities, as well as the ambitions you have and the people you’ll voice them to. And it’s never too early to consider a mentor, somebody who can offer wisdom and guidance to help with your decision-making.
Perhaps, the future you’re planning has nothing to do with working for somebody else. It’ll involve running a business, building up a portfolio career, working a part time role while you chase your passion on the side.
The above are things I’ve found many women consider much later on — and while it’s never too late, it would certainly help to have such ideas in your head at an earlier age.
It’s often said young women have a feminist turning point. Optimistic after finishing school, they pursue further studies off the promise that you world hard and get educated there will be great career rewards on offer later on.
But then things start to go askew. The cracks in the so-called system of merit emerge. Unconscious bias gets frustrating. Striving to ‘have it all’ by ‘doing it all’ gets exhausting. The gaps in equality between men and women get seriously personal.
Recognising this is the working environment that’ll confront the high school leavers of today doesn’t have to be depressing. Actually, there’s something kind of exciting in it, a chance to work towards change. And as for those employers that have no intention of better nurturing their female talent — the more young women who reject them, the more difficulty they’ll face in keeping up with their competitors.
High school leaving results are just the beginning on one very, very long journey. And Women’s Agenda wishes them every success in the future — as long as it’s the success they actually want.