EMERGING WOMEN LEADERS IN THE PACIFIC Feminising the future Ceridwen Spark State, Society and Governance in Melanesia ANU
EMERGING WOMEN LEADERS IN THE PACIFIC
Feminising the future Ceridwen Spark
State, Society and Governance in MelanesiaANU
LEADERSHIP TRAJECTORIES
• 1960s and 70s, men groomed for public service
• 2014 – idea that there is a dearth of leaders underpins programs designed to support leadership development
RESEARCH AMONG EMERGING WOMEN LEADERS
• Research conducted in PNG (Port Moresby), Solomon Islands (Honiara) and Vanuatu (Port Vila)
• Two case studies: Ella and Jacqui
Ella
• 22 years old• Overseas experiences as a child• Tertiary educated (USP)• Well-connected internationally and locally• Started a tourist resort on her island• Miss Solomon Islands Beauty Pageant (runner-up)• Attended CHOGM meeting with Prime Minister
2013• Member of Young Women’s Parliamentary Group
Ella …
Ella (Honiara, March 2014)
What women should do is … go back to the community and give back what you can. Go back to the village and start from there like what I did. I went back right down to the village and I started something from there and it sort of built me up to where I am. I did a lot of things in the village and people are saying to me in the community “oh you should run for election and provincial” and I said no. I enjoy what I do now cause I help them a lot.
Jacqui
• 25 years old• Grew up in Bougainville/Port Moresby• Tertiary-educated (UPNG)• Global Change Network (travel/training)• Started Rugby League Against Violence (RLAV)• Ran her own school• Active in church and community• Not a member of any women’s groups
Jacqui
Jacqui (Port Moresby, December, 2013)
• [A feminist] is ‘somebody who is concerned about the rights of others and somebody who is willing to do something to address the problem that’s there’.
QUESTIONS
• Do these young women ‘fit the bill’ in terms of what leadership programs have in mind?
• Can we count what they do as leadership?• Does it matter that they are not interested in
politics? • What are the best ways to support them?