Leadership: the cultural divide
L-R: Dr Michael Spence, Vice-Chancellor and Principal; Dr Tim Soutphommasane, Australian Race Discrimination Commissioner; Ms Cilla Robinson, Partner, Clayton Utz; Ms Swati Dave, Managing Director and CEO, Export Finance and Insurance Commission; Professor Greg Whitwell, Dean, Business School
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, has committed the University of Sydney to producing leaders who respect cultural difference.
They should also be able to celebrate identity and be willing to talk across the barriers that currently divide Australia鈥檚 multicultural society.
Dr Spence has described cultural division as one of Australia鈥檚 鈥渕ost pressing problems鈥�, and has indicated that it could threaten Australia鈥檚 economic and social wellbeing.
The Vice-Chancellor issued the warning while launching a report on ethnic diversity among the nation鈥檚 corporate, political and academic leadership, prepared by .
The report, which builds on a , refers to a 鈥榩ersistent lack of cultural diversity鈥� among Australia鈥檚 leaders.
Up to 97 percent of the nearly 2,500 executives surveyed for this latest report had Anglo-Celtic and European backgrounds. , has characterised the finding as a dismal statistic for a society that prides itself on its multiculturalism.
Of the 372 people in CEO positions, only 11 had non-European or Indigenous cultural backgrounds.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 enough for a cricket team but not enough for a multicultural Australia. We must talk about cultural diversity and recognise we can do better.鈥澨鼶r Soutphommasane said.
Dr Soutphommasane also pointed out that cultural diversity is particularly low within the senior leadership of Australian government departments and Australian universities.
The Race Relations Commissioner went on to call for more data on Australia鈥檚 leaders and for targets to redress the cultural imbalance at the most senior levels of Australian society.
鈥淥ur message here is a very simple one, targets give you something to aim for and if we celebrate our diversity and believe it is important, then it is only right that this is better reflected in our leadership,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e need to tackle bias and discrimination and do it in a forthright way.鈥�
L-R: Dr Michael Spence, Vice-Chancellor and Principal; Dr Tim Soutphommasane, Australian Race Discrimination Commissioner; Ms Cilla Robinson, Partner, Clayton Utz.
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Reflecting on the University of Sydney鈥檚 efforts to deal with cultural and ethnic bias, Dr Spence said the University 鈥渉as to take responsibility for training our students to think differently鈥�. He went on to talk of the University鈥檚 wider leadership role.
Whatever we may or may not have been in the past, we are committed as an institution to be part of the solution to what we think is one of Australia鈥檚 most pressing problems if we are to remain an effective, dynamic and agile economically productive society which is also a great place to live.
鈥淭丑别 needs to make sure that we are preparing leaders who can work in a society like Australia; who can build the kind of relationships overseas this country needs to build and can do so in a way that respects difference and celebrates identity,鈥� Dr Spence said.
Both Dr Spence and Dr Soutphommasane talked of a reluctance among Australians to talk openly about their differences and urged them to develop an ability to 鈥渄isagree well鈥�.
The latest听Leading for Change听report is based on research undertaken by the Race Relations Commission, the and the , which last year added a core inclusive leadership unit to its .
Commenting on findings of the study, the , said that there was 鈥渁 reluctance to accept that cultural diversity has a profoundly positive effect on an organisation鈥�.
鈥淒iversity inherently provides the opportunity to hear and explore different perspectives and viewpoints,鈥� Professor Whitwell said. 鈥淚t should also lead to more robust questioning of assumptions and better decision making.鈥�
