‘B phobia’ is holding women back

We have a drastic shortage of women in our STEM industries. Contrary to popular myths, this is not because we are worried about emasculating potential husbands. It is not because we are worried about chipping our nail polish. Nor is it because our brains are more ‘creatively skewed’.

We are afraid of the ‘B’. No, not the insect, but the big letter which was usually written in a red felt-tip pen at the head of our exam paper.

Claudia Goldin, an economics professor at Harvard, has found that the likelihood of a woman dropping a subject increased steadily as her grade fell.

This “discouragement gradient” was not evident in their male counterparts.

To exacerbate the situation, it has been proven that science departments, on average, grade 0.4 points lower than humanities departments. If we err away from subjects in which we receive lower grades we are already at a disadvantage.

I’m sorry to say that I was the perfect stereotype. Having reached year 12, it was time to drop a subject and I immediately sacrificed that in which I had earned the lowest grade: biology.

Whilst we are often told to “play to our strengths”, the STEM industries are ones in which mistakes are acceptable, if not absolutely necessary, to make progress.

Edison was told by his teachers he was “too stupid to learn anything”, was fired from his first two jobs for not being productive and there were 1,000 unsuccessful attempts at investing the lightbulb before he succeeded.

Einstein’s theories about the nature of light and the fundamental connection between space and time were described as “somewhat radical” and to be “more artistic than actual physics” in his Doctoral rejection letter from the University of Bern.

As women we need to embrace the ‘B’. It is okay to be mediocre- it means we have room to grow.

Now tie your hair up and get to work.

Attend Akolade’s Boosting Women in STEM national forum for strategies to overcome the shortage of women in STEM classrooms and careers. Bringing together sector leaders in a national summit, it strengthens pathways between tertiary education and industry to ensure we have the best talent in our STEM sector- not just the best male talent. 

Claire Dowler is a Conference Producer with Akolade. She recently graduated with a double degree: a Bachelor of Journalism and a Bachelor of Media and Communications Studies majoring in International Communication. Claire minored in sarcasm and puns.

A ballroom-dancer who collects salt and pepper shakers and volunteers for animal rescue, you might say Claire has eclectic interests.

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Get NDIS ready - 3 things you need to know

The National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) is revolutionising the disability service sector. It represents one of the greatest shifts in social policy to date.

More than $26 million of payments have been made through NDIS since its launch on July 1, despite some technical mishaps. More than 460,000 Australians are expected to benefit from the NDIS as it’s rolled out over the next three years.

As of July 2019 when NDIS becomes fully operational, it will be a consumer-driven marketplace with people living with a disability controlling their own funding and having the power of choice. It is critical that service providers prepare and undertake an effective NDIS business transformation strategy.

The NDS State of Disability Sector Report revealed that there are still significant barriers to overcome in implementing a strategic plan:

• Lack of tools to measure success

Service delivery and social impacts are difficult outcomes to measure. It’s important to identify appropriate KPIs and implement them across your entire business plan. For example, consider a feedback loop for customer satisfaction. Baselining will provide you with a standard to track your progress and allow you to assess areas of success as well as areas which require attention.

• No commercial expertise

Given that the funding (and power) has previously been held by disability service providers, they have had to do little in terms of marketing, branding and generating awareness. Providers now need to implement plans to ensure sustainable cash flow. This means advertising, promotional activities and listening to what the consumer wants.

• Conflicting interests of stakeholders

People join the NFP sector for different reasons, contrasting starkly with the commercial sector which is driven by profit. With competing aims, it can be difficult (particularly for the CEO) to ensure the organisation is continuing to grow and move forward. The need for effective governance in organisations with a board is crucial.

Though daunting, the NDIS ultimately promises to ensure people living with a disability receive quality care. The resistance to change is worth overcoming. It’s time to get behind the biggest social shift the sector has seen. 

Claire Dowler is a Conference Producer with Akolade. She recently graduated with a double degree: a Bachelor of Journalism and a Bachelor of Media and Communications Studies majoring in International Communication. Claire minored in sarcasm and puns.

A ballroom-dancer who collects salt and pepper shakers and volunteers for animal rescue, you might say Claire has eclectic interests.

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How to integrate social media into your email marketing campaigns

While email marketing and social media compete for consumers’ screen time, the competitive dynamic ends there. Today, marketers have the greatest opportunity to reach consumers when they view social media and email marketing as partners with a common goal, rather than rely entirely on one over the other.

According to ReachMail, one email share is worth $12.41, and Google+ share is worth $5.62, while social networks such as Facebook and Twitter reach a small fraction of the audience However, click-through rates on social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter are strong with 6% respectively.

What are the benefits of email marketing vs social media?

Email marketing still possess the key to a highly effective marketing strategy – personalisation. Email allows marketers to segment and target different audiences, as well as customising specific messages to targeted contacts. Hence, when using email marketing, marketers are in complete control of who receives the messages.

However, social media also has its own advantages. Firstly, there is no cost to post on social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest etc.

When leveraged correctly, social media and email marketing can be integrated, with social media driving email subscriptions and email marketing bringing more followers to social media.

This also increases the likelihood that your email marketing campaign may go viral.

If you have created a newsletter that is particularly funny, engaging or effective, you may find your subscribers sharing over and over again through various social media sites.

Social media and email marketing must work in cohesion to increase brand awareness and ultimately drive conversion rates. For effective outreach, marketing and social media departments must align their campaigns to reach the same goal.

Have you integrated your email marketing with social media and what was your outcome?

 The best part of my job as a Conference Production Manager is to create and manage my own conferences from concept to delivery, identify future conference topics as well as giving me a chance to expand my business card collection. Having a bit of a sweet tooth, you will always find me having lollies on my desk or you will catch me browsing on fashion sites during lunch breaks.

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How to land a job using social media

Never before have there been so many routes to getting a job. The days of going through the job adverts in the morning paper are long gone. Instead we entered the digital space many years ago, but even the “old” way of looking for jobs online at recruitment sites is becoming old fashioned.

It’s all about social media these days. And as my old uni teachers would tell me “if you’re not on it, you don’t exist”. Nowadays, the key to getting the foot in the door or climbing the ladder is being visible on social media, networking and making connections.

Companies have strong marketing strategies to appear attractive to the market and consumers, the same rules now apply to job hunters.

According to The Muse, 92% of companies use social media to recruit new staff, but only 29% of jobseekers use social media to find a job. And even if you’re not using social media to job hunt, three out of four managers will track down your social media accounts.

LinkedIn is the obvious social media go-to for professionals looking to connect, but it’s important not to forget how using Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other social media platforms to gain the upper hand while job hunting.

The Muse has put together a solid list on what to do on social media go get a job.

• Clean up your accounts – The number one rule, which may seem obvious to some, is to make sure all the information posted on your social media accounts are appropriate for your potential future boss to read. Also make sure to go through your privacy settings to avoid sharing anything inappropriate.
• Don’t have an account on everything – It’s  better to have a few flawless accounts rather than several accounts that you can’t be bothered updating.
• Use your real name – Though it may be tempting to use a funky nickname, using your real name enables others to find you.
• Keep your image professional and consistent – It should be friendly and decent. Perhaps don’t use the one from last weekend’s shenanigans where you decided to get Maccas at 3am.
• Get your personal branding down – use a consistent branding across your social platforms so that your connections know who you are and what you’re about.
• Use your social media accounts a “jumping off points” – Make sure to link to any projects you are working on at the moment, such as a website or blog.
• Bring all your accounts together in one place – create a place where all your accounts are connected, such as your own website for example. This will help potential future employers to find all your profiles in one go.
• Put your social media accounts on your job search materials – Make sure to advertise your accounts on your resume, cover letters or email signature. If you’ve done great work, make sure people find out about it.
• Don’t use it for professional communications – Don’t contact future employers on social media.
• Use scheduling tools to stay on top of things – There are several tools out there to help you stay on top of your social media accounts and allow you to schedule and share things etc. without you having to worry about being active every other second.

Check out the full list on The Muse to become social media savvy and get your career going.

Mimmie grew up in Sweden and first came to Australia as a backpacker after high school. After travelling around the country for two years she returned to Europe and pursued a Bachelor’s degree in Journalism in London. But the longing for Australia and the sun became too strong. After having worked for some time in the media industry, Mimmie decided to make a change and swap the news for conferences. She now gets to do what she loves the most, meeting new people and keep learning about cultures and issues while producing conferences on current topics.

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The key to achieving a high quality culture of care

Akolade’s National Standards Excellence forum will provide a platform for the exchange of ideas and best practice in the healthcare sector.

Since the implementation of the NSQHS standards in 2013, we have seen improvements in the quality of care. However, the Australian Council on Safety and Quality in Healthcare found have found that 90% of safety problems are still based in the system rather than the individual.

From August 30 to September 1 2016, the conference will gather experts from public and private hospitals and healthcare facilities to discuss strategies for achieving continual quality and safety improvements in a time of innovation and transformation.

We recently spoke to David Evans, Chief Executive Officer of Northumbria NHS Healthcare in the United Kingdom. David offered these insights into what makes a high quality culture of care:

Northumbria Healthcare NHS has received numerous awards recognising your high quality culture of care and recently received an ‘outstanding’ rating from the Care Quality Commission. What do you think makes Northumbria such a high quality healthcare provider?

Our staff and the mature relationship between the Trust and its staff. We have a clinically led system of management with the executive having devolved responsibility and also of course accountability to clinical teams. This has allowed us to have a common goal of high quality safe and effective care.

Northumbria was also named ‘Best Place to Work’ in 2015. How crucial is staff satisfaction to the overall quality of service provision?

Key, see above. Again a mature and flexible approach. We all have Trust wide contracts so move around between our 10 inpatient sites and 24 outpatient settings. For our consultant staff we have annualised contracts with service level agreements which allows flexible working . This is very unusual in the UK system. We have a very open and honest culture and very flat management structures without hierarchies.

 What advice can you offer healthcare organisations trying implement cultures of change and quality improvement?

Mature and adult conversations with staff, clinical leadership with accountability, united to a common goal with patients first, open data. No backdoor deals, no corridor conversations, no games to be played.

We’re looking forward to hearing from you at the event. Would you be able to tell us a little about what we can expect?

I will be telling the story of how over 15 years, a small secondary care provider united to become one of only 5 of the UK’s ‘ Outstanding ‘ providers of hospital services by engaging and working with its staff , developing clinical leadership and providing systems in which they could work. Developing a unifying vision of how we could do things better and with extensive consultation with the population we serve changing our pattern of providing emergency care by developing the UKs first specialist emergency care hospital.

Hear what delegates have said about our previous events:

“As a new person to the quality management world, the wealth of knowledge within the room was great to be surrounded by. I found that the presenters were very engaging and found the content very appropriate and beneficial.”

Qscan Radiology Clinics

“Conference provided a great forum for networking and was very informative.”

Mackay Hospital and Health Service

“Interesting, informative, educational and delivered professionally.”

PA Hospital

Claire Dowler is a Conference Producer with Akolade. She recently graduated with a double degree: a Bachelor of Journalism and a Bachelor of Media and Communications Studies majoring in International Communication. Claire thought it sounded more impressive.

A ballroom-dancer who collects salt and pepper shakers and volunteers for animal rescue, you might say Claire has eclectic interests.

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Australian politics: Social media wins and fails

Now the Australian election has wrapped up, we can all breathe a sigh of relief. No more foreboding television ads, obnoxious radio spots or pun-tastic newspaper headlines…at least until the next election campaign begins.

In the digital age, election coverage is even more ubiquitous than ever. Sites such as Buzzfeed posted relentlessly about Australian politics throughout the election campaign, ranging from serious news stories to their trademark quirky quizzes.

Of course, anyone on Facebook or Twitter knows firsthand the constant stream of political posts, and the at times hostile environment of #auspol and #ausvotes.

Social media has changed the world of politics forever, providing cheap and impactful platforms for political parties to reach voters. The 2016 campaign was dubbed “the Facebook election” according to the ABC, and we have seen a number of great, and some not so great uses of social media this year. Here are a few political social media wins and fails:

Win: Independent candidates make their mark

Let’s face it, advertising on TV and radio is expensive. There is a reason why we tend to only hear from the major parties in the lead up to elections: they are the only ones who can afford to advertise.

Social media changes that, as independent candidate for Warringah, James Matthison showed us. His campaign launch video has been viewed over 720 000 times, easily outnumbering content shared by major parties and helping his campaign gain momentum.

Matthison told the ABC social media is crucial to his campaign due to its low cost.

“If you've seen [my campaign] it's myself, a couple of volunteers and we don't have the ability to spend [much money] so we still have to find a way to reach people,” he said.

Fail: Never underestimate the power of Twitter

Remember Fake Tradie? Twitter remembers, and has immortalised him with a hastag, #faketradie.

If you’re not sure what I’m talking about, you might recognise this guy:

This charming little ad was released by the Liberal party and…let’s just say people weren’t impressed. Many Twitter users took issue with the seemingly contrived nature of the ad and #faketradie was born. Some Twitter comedy gold ensued.

A whole load of peole are having fun with #faketradie : :https://t.co/mYcw1naAEh pic.twitter.com/4VfsjMKglE

— SBS Comedy (@SBSComedy) June 25, 2016

Recent updates suggest the guy in the ad might actually be a real tradie, but the point stands: politicians and their media teams must never underestimate the power of a good Twitter roast.

Win: Politicians realise “social media” is not just “Facebook and Twitter”

The iconic blue F and bird logos might be the most recognisable in the social media world, but they’re not the only ones. Platforms like Instagram and Snapchat are making a big impact in our increasingly visual world. According to the ABC, politicians including Julie Bishop, Wyatt Roy and Sam Dastyari are all embracing Snapchat as a means to engage young voters.

Fail: Kelly O’Dwyer and the Liberal Party aren’t fans of parody

An unfortunate truth of social media is anonymous users are not always kind. Liberal MP Kelly O’Dwyer learnt this firsthand when a parody account comparing her to embattled former member for Indy, Sophie Mirabella, was launched. According to The Age, @Kelly_dnuSophie compares O’Dwyer’s campaign in Higgins to Mirabella’s disastrous 2013 loss.

The account is not exactly flattering but it’s pretty standard for Twitter. O’Dwyer and her team disagree and, according to The Age, lodged a copyright claim to have the account suspended, based on the notion that she owns the rights to photos being shared. The claim didn’t really have legs, mainly because most of the photos in fact belong to Fairfax Media.

Twitter declined to remove the account, demonstrating once again that social media is a different beast entirely to other media platforms.

Christian Berechree joined Akolade’s production team in May 2016. He has a Bachelor of Media and Music and a Masters in Journalism.

Christian is a musical theatre geek and a new dad, and he’ll happily spend hours telling you about either or both of those things.

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Why everyone should stand up for ‘the most unpopular kid at school

Have we not come further in Australia’s school system? How come bullies are allowed to continue bullying, while the bullied are the ones who have to make changes?

Why are Australian schools so slow on the uptake? Why is it so hard to stand up for the bullied and punish the bullies? When even our own Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has revealed that he was bullied in school as a kid, why isn’t more being done?

Queensland girl Tayla Sekhmet’s heartbreaking story shows exactly how painful it is to be bullied at school, and why more has to be done to stop it. Tayla experienced severe bullying at a daily basis, and despite several efforts to try and get the teachers and education department to step in, Tayla’s situation didn’t improve and she was told to “just ignore these people”. Eventually Tayla and her mother Kali took the matter in their own hands and created an online petition.

“I'm the most unpopular kid at school and people make my life a living hell,” writes 12-year-old Tayla on her petition.

“Every day people call me fatso, weirdo, ugly, freak, and tell me I should kill myself,” she continues.

So far more than 100,000 people have signed the petition. 

Another example of Australian schools’ poor management of bullies is the case of nine-year-old Jamieson Reid. He was waiting at the Queensland school’s pick-up area when another, bigger child attacked him.

His parents watched on in horror from the car as the kid grabbed their son around the throat and hit him in the head three times before a staff member intervened, his mother Jessie told Kidspot.

Not only did Jamieson have to suffer bullying from other students, the school also suspended him over the incident.

Kaila Mackay, a 16-year-old girl from, Finley, NSW, took a stance against Australia’s dairy industry. She took to YouTube, explaining to her viewers why she chooses not to consume dairy products. The residents of Finley, which is a small dairy farming town, reacted strongly to her video, which was published at the height of a nationwide campaign for Australians to buy more milk.

After publishing the video, Kaila was bombarded with abusive comments from students at her own school as well as nearby schools. Some of the comments urged Kaila to “kill herself” and “drown in milk”.

Her stepfather approached the school, concerned about the bullying Kaila had to endure, and was recommended that she would be better off at a TAFE institute, where there were “other non-mainstream students,” he told Buzzfeed News.

Since sharing her story with the media, Kaila has also received a lot of support and positive comments.

Why is it so hard for our schools, their teachers and executives, to fight bullying harder? Why is it so hard to take a stance against the bullies and provide better support for the bullied?

Get your priorities right and do better!

Mimmie grew up in Sweden and first came to Australia as a backpacker after high school. After travelling around the country for two years she returned to Europe and pursued a Bachelor’s degree in Journalism in London. But the longing for Australia and the sun became too strong. After having worked for some time in the media industry, Mimmie decided to make a change and swap the news for conferences. She now gets to do what she loves the most, meeting new people and keep learning about cultures and issues while producing conferences on current topics.

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Pokémon Go – It’s more than just a game

Matthew Corley / Shutterstock.com

A common problem we find and often complain about in our younger generations is that they are constantly at home playing computer games or head down playing with their smart phones.

Seeing this common daily phenomenon, parents are often worried that their kids are unable to socialise or communicate with other people in the “real world”.

The explosively popular Pokémon Go, which was released two weeks ago, has taken over the social media and mobile apps by storm and is now the biggest mobile game in U.S. history where they have surpassed the number of users as Twitter within the first three days of launch.

The augment reality game uses real-time tracking location has located Pokémon around suburbs and popular landmarks all across the city. The aim is for players to capture these Pokémon and is required to physically walk around as they “gotta catch ‘em all”. As a result, this has been a huge motivation for the young people to go outside to walk around to find them and interact with other people.

In the game, players can use lure at designated areas, attracting more wild Pokémon to the area. As a result, this can attract many other players to the same area to take advantage of the function. It is common to find people in the same area cheering, chattering and becoming excited when a new Pokémon appears on screens or comparing how each other’s collection of Pokémon or helping each other to capture more Pokémon. Many players have enjoyed this new-found community and friends via this game, thus pushing the popularity of the game higher.

i wish humans could unite like this more often. #PokémonGO has been an absolute blessing. pic.twitter.com/hyc1Eul77U

— Will Shepherd (@shep689) July 15, 2016

Does anyone in #NYC want to meet up sometime to walk around and play #PokémonGo? Are there meet-up groups yet? Very excited.

— Toni Airaksinen (@Toni_Airaksinen) July 7, 2016

This game has also brought along many positive health and social benefits. Aside from getting these young players to go outside and exercise, this game has provided a great platform for people to talk about and interact on the streets, something they may normally not be comfortable in doing otherwise.

This game has also reportedly helped people overcome anxiety and mental issues by being more active. As this game encourages people to run around to locate Pokémon, there have been many reports of how this has drawn people together and connect over a common platform.

#PokémonGo has already been a better treatment for my depression than anything my doctor prescribed or therapist recommended

— Jesseanne Pope (@gleefullyhello) July 11, 2016

Real talk - as someone with anxiety/depression, the fact that I've spent most of this weekend outside with friends is unreal. #PokémonGo

— HiRez David (@uglycatlady) July 10, 2016

#PokémonGO this is actually making me want to leave my room and interact with people finally after years of depression I love this so much

— Amy (@amyxplier) July 10, 2016

There have been many heart-warming stories on how Pokemon has helped them with their mental health as well as parents who are grateful for the invention of Pokemon. 

Since the launch of Pokemon Go, it has changed the lives of many people in terms of how people interact with technology and each other. Pokemon Go is the beginning of a new technological transformation and it is anticipated that more games will arise with a similar concept, so keep your eyes open and don’t forget to look up from your mobile device once in a while to meet and socialise with “real” people!

Being brought up in a typical Chinese family in Australia, Vivian takes pride as an ABC (Australia-born Chinese) where she happily embraces both the Chinese and Australian cultures. 

In high school, Vivian wanted to become a fashion designer, however she has developed a passion for running events after working backstage for multiple live shows. Prior to starting at Akolade, Vivian worked 4 years in the wine industry and she misses the wine tasting sessions and openly drinking on the job. As the Marketing Coordinator, Vivian enjoys using her creativity to design unique and fun campaigns for each event. In her spare time, Vivian loves to spend time with her two adorable pets; a cat and a dog. 

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