Tracey Spicer recalls telling a boss at Channel 10 not to ‘worry about giving her a payrise’. She was just happy to have a job.
It’s hard to imagine the columnist, television presenter and vocal supporter for women not speaking up for what she deserves at work.
But as Spicer told the She Leads conference in Canberra this morning, she spent many years being the ‘good girl/ at work.
Things changed when a boss told her not to worry about returning to work now that she had small children. “Taking legal action again discrimination was the best thing that I have ever done,” Spicer said.
That action started a national conversation about discrimination against women in the workplace and for the television industry in particular, which was long overdue. Spicer said she had previously seen all her female friends with children in television having to leave the industry. A television career, like many careers, were seen as practically impossible for women with families.
More than 200 women are attending YWCA’s She Leads in Canberra this morning, a program designed to help develop the pipeline of female leaders, supported by Women’s Agenda. They’re learning that career and family are not mutually exclusive, nor is leadership an area that should be dominated by men.
While those in the room are not necessarily being encouraged to stop being the ‘good girl’ at work, they are being urged to follow a number of actions: to ‘discover, connect and ignite’ — the themes of this years program.
And good girl or not, it helps to have some rules when it comes to your career. As Kate Carnell AO said during this morning’s panel session, she managed her time in ACT politics by putting boundaries around her work.
“We did have some rules. Careers and jobs will take up as much of your life as you give them. They will take up 100% or something less,” she said. “My time was mine in the morning and my staff knew I didn’t do breakfast meetings — I dropped the kids to school. Unless you have those sorts of rules, it won’t work”
And forget the guilt. Speaking as a mother who says she managed the juggle “terribly”, Carnell happily declared her now grown up kids are actually alright.
“The fact they had a mum in a job who was committed to making a difference was really important. The opportunities they had to see what was important was worth every time I didn’t pick up my child from after school care.”
When asked if she ever had to give up being a ‘good girl’, Carnell said she simply learnt the limits of happiness early on. “I spent a lot of time trying to make sure everyone was happy. That the house was happy. Work was happy. That staff were happy. In other words you’d just die! I learnt early on you can’t keep everyone happy … That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be nice … You need to keep the balance right.”
Meanwhile, Arts Access CEO Emma Bennison could relate to Tracey Spicer’s experience of being the good girl. “I remember thinking, ‘thank god I have a job’. It doesn’t matter about the pay, or that I’m stuffing envelopes, having a job was it .. What changed it all was probably when I started to see other friends of mine with disability getting a raw deal. That’s when I felt I had to do something about this.”
Follow today’s event on Twitter with the hashtag, #Sheleads2015.