Last night, an enjoyable presentation was given by Barker College parent and the CEO of Local Government Professionals Australia NSW, Annalisa Haskell. Annalisa shared her journey in the workplace across seven different roles she has undertaken, both in Australia and overseas. She certainly engaged those in attendance with her story. Combined with an insight into the difficulties associated with career development and the existing trajectory for women in the workforce, Annalisa shared some confronting data about the proportion of women in CEO, Executive and Managerial roles in both Australia and New Zealand.

She highlighted the need for young women to be aspirational and to develop skills in the subjects that will provide them with the necessary confidence and capacity to be aspirational in their careers. Annalisa also highlighted the need for girls to be encouraged to take subjects like Mathematics and Science to set themselves up in the workplace for the more demanding roles that exist.

Annalisa also reminded the audience that getting balance and looking after yourself is of utmost importance along the way. Resilience, confidence and planning were all key themes that resonated through the talk, providing a strong sense of realism while also challenging the students in the audience to ponder their future aspirations with these recommendations in mind.

We thank Annalisa for contributing to the Twilight Series of presentations at the Barker Institute in 2017.

Dr Brad Merrick

Brad Merrick is the immediate past Director of the Barker Institute & Director of Research in Learning at Barker. He has a keen interest in emerging technologies, professional learning and creative pedagogy. His doctorate investigated the relationship between student self-efficacy and self-regulation in creative learning environments. His professional experience in education has also involved casual academic roles at the University of Sydney, University of NSW, UWS and the UQ. He has held the post of President of the Australian Society of Music Education and also sits on the Committee of the International Commission for Music in School Teacher Education. He is now a Senior Lecturer (Music and the Arts Education) at the Melbourne Graduate School of Education, The University of Melbourne.