Gympie women's forum examines leadership barriers

GYMPIE Community Place hosted a women's leadership series event on Saturday as part of the region's celebration of Women's Week and International Women's Day.

Co-ordinated by Madeline Price of the One Woman Project, the day consisted of a Women in Leadership workshop on how to recognise and deal with barriers to leadership and equal pay, followed by a panel discussion involving former Gympie Regional councillor Rae Gate, Gympie Times editor Shelley Strachan, Gympie business owner Samantha Bradshaw and agricultural businesswoman Karen Jarling.

Women's Leadership Day in Gympie. Panellists include Sam Bradshaw, Rae Gate, Shelley Strachan, Karen Jarling and Kaili Parker-Price. — Women's Leadership Day in Gympie. Pictured centre is One Woman Project director Madeline Price, who organised the leadership workshop and panel discussion on Saturday. Jacob Carson

Each panellist offered a unique perspective and experience of issues they have faced in their leadership roles as a direct result of their gender.

The discussion included the glass ceiling, glass cliff and glass elevator, how each woman dealt with issues of gender bias and what they believed would be the biggest challenges for the next generation of women moving into leadership roles and ideas they had for overcoming those issues.