In this episode, we speak with Rohini Kappadath who is the General Manager at the Immigration Museum in Melbourne about the opportunities that are available to women approaching their fifties and beyond.
The invisible woman project funded by our social enterprise's impact program promotes awareness and actions for women and gender-diverse people. To age with dignity, security, and safety. Find out more on justgoldwomen.net or on our socials @justgoldwomen.
Hosted by Voula Stamatakis
Edited and produced by Carley Bishop
This is a Just Gold podcast.
[00:00:00] (Introduction)
[00:00:00] Carley Bishop: This is a just gold podcast.
[00:00:03]
[00:00:03] Carley Bishop: Captured on the lands of the peoples of the east Eastern Kulin nation. We pay our respects to their elders past, present and emerging.
[00:00:25] In this episode we speak with Rohini Kappadath, who is the general manager at the Immigration Museum in Melbourne about the opportunities that are available to women approaching their fifties and beyond.
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[00:00:40] Voula Stamatakis: Rohini, thank you for coming. Are women becoming invisible as they age? What is your opinion?
[00:00:46] Rohini Kappadath: I don't believe that we are becoming invisible. In fact, I think it is very much a matter of choice. I think women at this age, when they. Go past 50, have all the choices in the world.
[00:01:01] Typically, there are some who have had a lifetime of caring for their families. They've built a lot of lived experience, They've handled many complex situations, provided solutions each and every day. Brought a wealth. capability to the table for the community, for the families, for their friends. And at this stage in life, they have a lot of capacity to contribute.
[00:01:29] So they can choose how visible they want to be, and if they want to take a step back at that point, again, they can choose to do that too. So I believe it is a matter of choice.
[00:01:40] Voula Stamatakis: What happens when something sudden happens? For example, the death of eh the partner and the woman has to handle the situation which she wasn't handling before.
[00:01:52] Or she has stopped working when she was 40 and she has to start working again when she's 50, and then she sees that some obstacles have been created for her.
[00:02:02] Rohini Kappadath: There is no doubt that there are obstacles in life and I think that this is something that most of us face. I also believe that women at a later stage in life have accumulated a wealth of capability, emotional resilience.
[00:02:20] Strength from living their daily lives over a number of decades, till they reach 50 and beyond, they had built. Capability to address a lot of the situations that they face. So yes, when they're faced with unexpected situations,
[00:02:40] some, of course, this is a broad generalization, no doubt, but some have a greater capacity to address those situations. Of course, there'll be others who are devastated by really adverse circumstances, and they do become amongst the vulnerable in our community who are then assisted by some of the stronger members in our community who have that capacity.
[00:03:06] Voula Stamatakis: In your environment, do you notice this though, that maybe some women are being excluded when they reach 50? Because this is a global phenomenon. It's not only here in Australia. So do you find that maybe this is happening in some areas?
[00:03:24] Rohini Kappadath: There is no doubt that there will be a number of women after 50 years of age who face incredible adversity as well as discrimination in the workforce. They face a number of obstacles , for example, being overlooked by hiring managers in favor of younger candidates. Yes, there is no doubt that this happens. What I'd like to focus on though, and the message I'd like to put out there, is that the woman over 50 is really the workforce of the future as well.
[00:03:59] She has tremendous lived experience and has a lot to contribute to small business, large business entrepreneurial ventures, to government organizations, to community organizations, to social enterprises.
[00:04:15] The spectrum of capacity that she brings to the table. Rather incredible. It needs to be harnessed. And I think that is what organizations need to focus on, is this incredible wealth of expertise that sits in this segment of our population that has perhaps been overlooked in the past and needs to come, needs to be hardness appropriately.
[00:04:40] Voula Stamatakis: In your profession and your organiz. , how do you treat this woman? Does your organization, include them? Because I've noticed that you do include them and you do promote them.
[00:04:50] Rohini Kappadath: I believe that Museums Victoria has a very large female workforce. A number of females who are working at the museum are over.
[00:05:03] in our leadership team as well, we have a number of women who are over 50. In fact, our CEO is in that age bracket, as is our head of research and collections and our head of experiences and uh, audience engagement. So I think in our organization, the woman over 50 has been. Quite a few opportunities, but then there are other situations where some have stagnated within the organization as well.
[00:05:35] I think that they're most of these cases are quite individual as well, but yes, I could point to both those examples. ,
[00:05:43] Voula Stamatakis: What would you suggest that women should do to stay visible throughout their career and their lives until they reach this 50 years away, which is crucial. What do you think that they have to do to stay visible?
[00:05:57] Rohini Kappadath: I've always believed in lifelong learning. Really pursuing new areas of study to develop skills is an important aspect. That's something that every.
[00:06:09] Should be doing anyway. And especially the woman the more mature aged woman women. In addition, I think that building a network, so really being visible either within the community or within business networks, depending on where you want to make an impact, you need to be in the game. You need to be really contributing.
[00:06:32] You need to be investing in those relat. Because that's where the opportunities will come from, and that's where you will learn about the the current needs, the trends, what's actually happening where, who's hiring, which organizations are flourishing. So I think it's important for women to stay engaged so it's not enough to be at home raising the family and the kids been expecting that these opportunities will come to our doorstep.
[00:07:00] It doesn't happen that way. Join a business. Join some of the trade and commerce networks go to the various functions. I think also that the government is doing a lot as well to try and engage various segments of society because you know, there is a drive to keep our employment rates high.
[00:07:21] Go and find out where are those initiatives, those program. And speak to family and friends about where those opportunities might be. So I would definitely advise women to stay engaged in order to stay visible. The other aspect I think is, we hear about mum printers, for example. I think women who have kind of completed their caring responsibilities during their thirties and forties now might find themselves in a position where they have got the time, the capacity, the skill, the passion, the drive to go and build a business of their own. And , that's one avenue as well that they could pursue.
[00:08:03] So I think that combination of lifelong. Staying engaged through networking pursuing a passion and having that mindset of reinvention is really crucial now, going, drilling down more into that area of reinvention, often what can happen is, if you're a woman who has spent most of her life caring for the family, when you turn 50, you might feel a sense of, oh my God, like I, I missed out on that opportunity. I didn't do enough. Instead of letting that become a reason to sort of spiral downwards. I think it'll be nice to consider, take a very positive view to the future and reinvent.
[00:08:48] Slowly but surely by surrounding yourself, by the kind of people who inspire you, who can show you the way and who can lead you in the direction that you want to take. You can go and look for a mentor, for example. And are there many women out there who are willing to assist those women who want to go and reinvent themselves?
[00:09:10] So there's that segment of. And I'd say that to them that there's another segment of women who have probably spent a long time being providers in their family. They've raised their families alongside, they've worked out, they've got to their fifties, they've been working in their jobs, and they might want to reinvent in a whole different way by saying, Hey, I've got the resources now to go and do something of my own.
[00:09:34] And I wanna be I've been interested in fashion, I. Launch a new brand and I'd say again, take those risks back yourself. Go do it
[00:09:43] Voula Stamatakis: instead of an obstacle. See it as a chance or opportunity to do something.
[00:09:47] Rohini Kappadath: That's right. I believe that the woman in her fifties has reached her prime. She is ready to unleash her capacity in this world. I believe many of them are like the I five of this world.
[00:10:03] Incredible expertise, incredible balance, wisdom. I think they make really good. Potentially for organizations. So there might be an overlooked human resource in the past, but I think the future rests in the hands of these women, the majority age women who clearly have a lot to bring to the table.
[00:10:33] Thank you. You've
[00:10:35] Voula Stamatakis: been amazing. Exactly the message we wanted to hear. Thank you so
[00:10:38] Rohini Kappadath: much. My pleasure.
[00:10:40] Carley Bishop: The invisible woman project funded by our social enterprises impact program promotes awareness and actions for women and gender diverse people. To age with dignity, security, and safety. Find out more on justgoldwomen.net or on our socials justgoldwomen