Michelle Austin | Financial Director | Keegor Group | mail me |
Being a woman who works in a male-dominated profession teaches you an incredible self-discovery and how to believe in yourself.
Working my way up to a financial director has been one of the most challenging, and yet equally rewarding experiences of my career. My almost 8-year journey has been one of incredible self-discovery and of making a noise in this male-dominated industry.
Respect
The challenges I have faced most often is one of self-doubt, and relates to a perception which I personally carry around – that my male colleagues do not respect my experience within both the finance and the engineering industries.
It’s hard enough to be a woman in finance, but being a woman in finance and a board member in the engineering industry, without an engineering degree, is incredibly tough.
However, I have managed to develop the respect of my male colleagues. I have demonstrated this by showing that I am willing to ‘get my hands dirty’ and do whatever it takes – I might not have the answer right now, but I am willing to go and do research, and I am always willing to learn.
Advantage
As a board member in an engineering group of companies, what I have come to realise over time, and with experience, is that not having an engineering degree and being a woman is actually an advantage.
Diversity (in terms of gender and in terms of profession) inside and outside of the boardroom brings differing perspectives, opinions and insights; and these result in better decisions. The effect of great decisions is a high-performing organisation.
Even though there are a few females who have studied, or are currently studying engineering these challenges are also driving out women in engineering, as of the women who are qualified engineers, many of them are no longer practicing engineering.
Most of them are now in management or senior management roles, which do not necessarily involve engineering.
Awareness
However, I believe that an awareness needs to be created amongst the youth of our country that all career opportunities are open to both men and women. This could be done in ways such as workshops and programmes which focus on educating young girls and women about what male dominated industries and careers involved.
As women, we need to encourage other women to follow their dreams, passions and goals, and share our experiences, so that other women can learn from our experiences.
Tips for women working in male dominated industries:
- Believe in yourself and in your own abilities – women are capable of doing anything that they put their minds to!
- Concentrate on your strengths and what you are good at, and not on your weaknesses.
- You need to be willing to do (almost) whatever it takes to make your dreams become a reality (obviously within reason).
- Never give up – be persistent and keep pushing, keep giving your best each and every day.
- Be willing to take risks, and make mistakes – we are all human, and this is how we learn and grow – both personally and professionally.
- Stay positive – view each challenge not as a challenge, but as an opportunity.
