International Women’s Day – Dr Ellen Tyquin

March 2, 2023

International Women’s Day (IWD) is a day to recognise and celebrate women’s achievements and progress while acknowledging the work that still needs to be done to achieve gender equality.

In the lead up to IWD on March 8, the Future Energy Exports Cooperative Research Centre (FEnEx CRC) invited women within its network to share what the day means to them.

Our first cab of the rank is Dr Ellen Tyquin, a Foundation Fellow at the FEnEx CRC in the Market and Sector Development program who is based at the Queensland University of Technology and is researching how strategic communications can

support significant change and transitions for industries facing complex real-world problems.

Last month Ellen was awarded the best oral presentation award at the inaugural Australia Hydrogen Research Conference for her presentation on her research – “The Future of Australia’s Hydrogen Export Industry: Everyone’s Got an Opinion”.

Below are some questions we posed to Ellen about IWD and her responses.

What does International Women’s Day (IWD) mean to you personally?
I think International Women’s Day is a chance to reflect on and celebrate women’s achievements, and successes, but also take time to recognise where progress is still needed.

Do you have any clear role models that have helped shape/guide you in your career?
I’ve been fortunate enough to always have strong women around me.

From my supervisor Professor Amisha Mehta who introduced me to the world of academia and the impact we as researchers can have, to my first bosses when I graduated my Bachelor degree who gave me the room to jump into roles and learn on the job.

As well as my own mum who has always demonstrated where hard work can get you.

UN Women Australia IWD 2023 theme is “Cracking the Code: Innovation for a gender equal future”. What are the main barriers that you see facing equality in the innovation space and do you have any advice on how can we better champion an uptake of women in science, technology, mathematics, and engineering?
As a social science researcher, I don’t want to pretend to know the specific challenges and barriers women in the STEM fields have and still face. I think across all fields, when leaders advocate for and create a culture that values equality and align this to wider strategy, change does filter through.

Do you have any other advice on increasing diversity within the Australian and international research/industry community?
I believe diversity in general is a much wider issue than gender equality, however, I think there could be better sharing of specific examples of how diversity of thinking and perspectives have practically helped organisations and industries make better decisions.

If we’re trying to shift the dial in this space – we need the organisations doing things well to be loud about why diversity has made their organisation better, so others can follow.


Over the coming days we plan to share some more stories and personal reflections from a variety of the inspiring women in our CRC and celebrate their innovation, ingenuity and determination.

So watch this space!

 

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