Blaze e-catalogue - Catalog - Page 12
Introduction
Crawford, Kim McKay AO, Mary Ann O’Loughlin AM, Jane Spring and Elizabeth Tydd. Others,
Dr Teresa Anderson, Lea Armstrong, Dr Deborah Dearing, Dorothy Hoddinott AO, Alice Kang,
Dr Marlene Kanga AM and Narelle Underwood have worked within a primary policy field
flexing towards related areas when required.
The juxtaposing of women from the past and present in Blaze allows consideration
to be given to diverse experiences over time. It opens up the space to reflect upon what has
—and what hasn’t—changed for working women. A number of themes become apparent:
career and family; equal status/equal pay; gendered workplaces and the importance
of education. ‘Leadership’ as a concept and practice weaves throughout Blaze. Courage,
creativity, collaboration, authenticity, ‘having a go’, passion, persistence, resilience and
‘being oneself’ are words which not only describe how the Blaze women lead, but define
their career journeys.
Career and family
The past Blaze women faced a stark choice: if they married, they gave up their professional
careers. The ‘breadwinner’ mentality as Raewyn Connell has described it, which promoted the
ideal of the male/husband/father as the sole family provider, underscored industrial regulation
and the public sector for much of the 20th century. On this basis, wives were excluded from
permanent employment in the public sector. Single women were forced to give up permanent
employment once married. Re-engaged on a temporary basis if lucky, their chances of rising
through the ranks of the public sector were severely restricted due to these terms. Of the
twenty past women featured in Blaze, three married and gave up their professional careers.
The majority remained unmarried, and of these, their careers extended up to forty years.
NSW Crown Solicitor, Lea Armstrong, has recalled her own family’s experience
in relation to the rules that governed women’s choices:
My grandmother worked as a public servant in Western Australia for the Department
of Treasury. That’s where she met my grandfather in the ‘30s. They got married,
but of course she had to give up work. I remember she went to work for Australia Post
when married women were finally allowed to have Commonwealth Public Service jobs
in the late ‘60s. She was 55 years old, and it was a junior level job, whereas she’d had
a career in Treasury before she got married.
Dr Deborah Dearing, President of the NSW Architects Registration Board and District
Commissioner (North) for the Greater Sydney Commission has similar recollections:
When I was at primary school, the head mistress at the school was not allowed
to be married and similarly I think even in secondary school there were rules around
what jobs you could do if you were single or married.
12
