The 27th Prime Minister of Australia, Julia Gillard, is the guest in the sixth episode of the Women are the Business podcast.
"Gender doesn’t explain everything, it doesn’t explain nothing, it explains some things.”
These words, spoken by Julia Gillard during her last speech as Australia’s first female Prime Minster, still resonate with many, and for her, they still ring true.
In the years since, she’s developed the ability to cite her own experiences as female leader in the context of the body of research about how women leaders are seen and perceived.
As Chair of the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership, she says it’s been fascinating to learn alongside a research team.
“In some ways, it’s been emotionally relieving,” she said.
“Because there was always a question in your mind, ‘How much of this is me? How much of this is about gender?’ And looking at the research has helped me answer some of those questions to myself, for myself.”
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Listen to the full episode below, featuring discussions on the power of activism, the pervasiveness of sexist stereotypes and the myth of merit.
