Weekend Edition: How can women move faster up the corporate ladder?
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What is the International Women’s Day theme and why is accelerating gender equality important?
So for International Women's Day, a special weekend edition of the Morning Call, we talk to two women who have climbed into senior roles and share some of their wisdom about how they got there in what is still a male-dominated world. And some advice for men and women listening. If you have a daughter, what can you do to set them up to succeed? That's this week. The morning call from NAB with Phil Dobby. The weekend edition. It is uh International Women's Day this weekend, the eighth of March, and the theme for this year is Accelerate Action, which in short means just getting on with it. I mean taking decisive steps to achieve gender quality. It has taken long enough, hasn't it, so far? So how can this happen?
How can things be stepped up a little? Well, let's get the views of uh two women who are very senior in Australian business. Anna Hughes is CEO of the Australian Office of Financial Management, which is basically the funding arm of the Australian government. And Fiona Trigona is Executive General Manager, Group Treasurer of NBN, which is Australia's national wholesale open access data network. Almost all of us are connected to it in one way or another. Now they work in areas which have been traditionally very mail dominated. I mean Fiona and I worked uh in telco for quite a long time. You couldn't get more mail dominated, although of course Vicky Brady now is C. CEO of Telstra, so times are changing, but you also both work in finance roles.
So Fiona, do you think it's easier to succeed in some sectors than it is in others?
Well, first of all, um hello Phil and welcome to all your your listeners as well. Um, really I think it just depends on what your interests are. I mean, some um areas of course are very male dominated and others are are very much female. You you certainly have a lot of legal firms, for example, with a lot of um females and certainly finance um itself and telco can be more male dominated. Um but again everyone's different and there's certainly a lot of different interests that people have. So there certainly are roles that are very focused for for one gender or another, but um doesn't mean that um the other one can't participate.
No, and do you think that's changing? 'Cause I mean, y you know, y you say telco is very male dominated, but clearly that that has changed a great deal in in the last five or ten years.
It is. We're now seeing more and more female CEOs, which is obviously a very positive um change to see as well. So yes, I think um women now um understand that um gender shouldn't stop them from approaching any kind of role.
And I mean you've both obviously, you know, got a strong education sitting behind you. So Fiona, you've got a BSC in maths and chemistry. It's a bit like this is your life, isn't it? Anna, you did economics, you've got a an MBA as well in environmental management. So how important is that do you think? Actually, does that remove an excuse uh question for you, Anna, does it remove an excuse not to choose? You know, if you're th that way disposed that you think, well, I really don't want a woman for this job, but hang on a second, here's someone who's incredibly well qualified, I can't say no. Does it sort of remove a barrier if you've got a good education behind you?
How did Anna Hughes and Fiona Trigona describe their career paths into senior finance roles?
I don't I don't think so. I think it comes down to experience. I I know for myself when I'm hiring the the education i is one part of it because it does uh teach people uh how you know, how to solve complex problems, how to write, uh, you know, how the the world might operate. But I think it's that on the job experience that's that's more important and I think uh attitude and mindset is far more important to success uh than than formal education. U I am sure everybody in your audience knows super smart people who, you know, barely can get themselves out the door in the morning. So I think um I think intellect and and uh academia i is just part of the story. Uh I think that um that attitude and mindset is going to be far more important to success than
it is to than it is to, you know, having a collection of degrees.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is the International Women’s Day theme and why is accelerating gender equality important?
0:01–2:55
2
How did Anna Hughes and Fiona Trigona describe their career paths into senior finance roles?
2:55–7:04
3
What role does education versus experience play in advancing women’s corporate careers?
7:04–10:13
4
How have gender biases and board representation changed in Australian companies?
10:13–14:00
5
Why is asking for promotions and negotiating pay crucial for women’s advancement?
14:00–17:34
6
How can patience, skill consolidation, and mentorship accelerate career growth?
17:34–20:55
7
What strategies help women build confidence, resilience, and authentic leadership?
20:55–23:43
8
How can parents support their daughters to succeed on the corporate ladder?
23:43–27:49