Women's leadership seminar labelled 'sexist'

A Melbourne female engineer has labelled a seminar for women in her industry as “sexist”, saying the event suggests women are emotional and don’t know how to lead.

After learning the $800 one-day seminar, run by The Dream Collective, would cover four key areas – leadership, communication, resilience, and emotional intelligence, the architect and engineer felt the program “missed the target”.

But the seminar organisers defended the program, saying topics had been included that were relevant to all leaders, not just women.

According to the company’s website: “The Women In series is a one-day industry-specific training that focuses on leadership skills, industry trends & harnessing diversity in non-traditional industries for women.”

The female engineer asked: “Is it me or is this all extremely sexist and condescending, only suggesting that women are emotional and don’t know how to lead, and should learn how to be resilient?”

While the engineer agreed women need empowerment, she felt the seminar played to the “sexist cliches” she said females were reminded about on a daily basis.

Vital skills for all leaders, says founder

The organisation’s founder and Managing Director Sarah Liu called the woman’s claims “surprising”.

“It disheartens me to see that’s how it’s been perceived,” she told Yahoo7 on Tuesday, saying the topics covered were “not because women need it – it’s because all leaders need it”.

Ms Liu estimated about 12,000 women internationally have attended various Dream Collective events over the past six years throughout Melbourne, Sydney, Singapore, and Tokyo, and she has only received positive feedback.

On the topics of emotional intelligence and resilience, Ms Liu said there may have been a misconception, and the focus was more on the ability to “connect, relate and emphasise”, rather than being “emotional”.

She added those skills were vital for leaders despite their gender, which the Women In series helped participants to harness – not only in themselves, but also in their teams.

Ms Liu identified a difference between how women and men were evaluated in leadership roles, and the personal barriers commonplace to women in the workforce, saying there was a need for societal change.

“Men are evaluated by their potential, and women are evaluated by their performance. It’s not about ‘fixing’ women, it’s about growing our awareness of that.

“There are a lot of challenges faced by women: a lack of role models, confidence and self doubt, and struggling to find a structure that works for them.”

The leadership guru added the seminars give women tools to help them become better leaders, in light of those challenges, to support a gender-equal, empowered work environment.

The sessions run in small groups of up to 10 participants, allowing females to share their experiences among other women in their industry who may have been met with similar situations, she added.

The Dream Collective’s one-day Women In Engineering seminars are being held in Sydney and Melbourne on May 29 and 31 respectively.