MTAA Continues to Lead Industry Effort to Raise the Bar on Gender Diversity and Equity
On Friday 8 April, the MTAA held the third in the ‘Women in Medtech' series in Sydney. The luncheon examined barriers and solutions to gender diversity within the industry.
Managing Director Johnson & Johnson Medical and MTAA Chairman Gavin Fox-Smith opened the proceedings.
Speaking about their own personal experiences were featured panelists:
- Sophia Frentz, PhD Geneticist Murdoch Children's Research Institute,
- Katherine Wannan, Manager Human Capital Deloitte
- Anne O'Neill Associate Director, NSW Office of Health and Medical Research.
Sophia Frentz discussed the darker side of sexism in the industry - women’s safety. Sophia discussed her own examples of sexual harassment and she also discussed data such as 60% of women in tech Silicon Valley and 40% of female science experiencing some form of sexual harassment. Frentz cited
enforceable policy, clear outcomes, and multiple routes for reporting and closure as being key.
Anne O’Neill examined her own personal journey of being a parent and trying to keep her career on track in an environment with little flexibility. She also presented sharp facts highlighting gender gaps in NHMRC funding with only 35% of NHMRC funding being received by women.
Katherine Wannan presented the Deloitte’s Diversity and Inclusion Maturity Model. The tiered model started at the basic level of ‘Compliance’ through to the most mature level ‘Diversity of Thinking’.
MTAA Chief Executive, Susi Tegen said “The MTAA Board is committed to making this industry a leader in this space.”
The MTAA will now take the highlighted barriers and recommendations to a Chief Executive event later in the year to progress the critical issue of diversity and equity. In addition, a series of workshops with CEOs’ will look at strategies on engagement and unconscious biases.
Ms Tegen said of the event “it was a key step in our journey to gender equality”.
