Speak Out June 2021

Member reflections INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY 2021 CON'T

for equity, inclusivity and respect for women in all aspects of work and society. It’s the highlighting of the ongoing discrepancies in pay equality and women in leadership, and the fight against misogyny and sexism conditioned in society, which has become systemic in our institutions. As speech pathologists, we hold a position to be able to support women to speak up and speak out, in the face of such adversities."

FELICITY PURBRICK Felicity Purbrick graduated from her Masters of Speech Pathology program in 2014. After graduation Flick took on locum roles in Queensland Health for her first couple of years. She believes this provided her with solid grounding in broad aspects of clinical care for adult clients in both the community and acute hospital settings. After these formative years, Flick felt the UK was calling out to her and she packed her bags,

MELISSA BURGE Another Master of Speech Pathology student, Melissa Burge. Mel completed her studies on the Gold Coast and moved across the country to Perth. Mel is currently a speech pathologist at Kids for Kids, a therapy and education centre. Mel has been providing support to children and their families across the last six years. She has worked through many

hopped on a plane and took her skills abroad to the UK. She spent two years in the very busy NHS, before returning to her home town of Melbourne. Today, Flick is a senior clinician in rehabilitation while also undertaking a Masters unit in Quality Improvement at Monash University. Flick’s future plans involve side-stepping into non-clinical work in the quality improvement and project space. She hopes to contribute to the ongoing reform of our Public Health services. communicate and engage in all areas of life in spite of their disability. Whether it be through building supportive strategies for basic choice making, being able to sign your own name, returning to education or work, or progressing to a public speaking role. I believe that speech pathology will always be a meaningful profession that enables people to participate throughout any stage of life." In your eyes, how has our profession changed the landscape for women? "As a female-dominated profession, speech pathology has made a mark in Australian evidence-based healthcare, based on the hard work and research conducted by women. I believe that speech pathologists have a shared understanding that empowers women to be experts in their field, entrepreneurs, hold executive positions and maintain work-life balance, which I know is in contrast to the disparity in various other lines of work and around the world." What does International Women’s Day mean to you? "IWD to me means putting to the forefront the ongoing call What does our profession mean to you? "Speech pathology can help enable people to

of the programs offered including school-based therapy, NDIS services, remote telehealth and as a contractor for the Child Development Service. Mel loves what she does in her current environment and her future plans involve disseminating her knowledge to future speech pathologists. What does our profession mean to you? "Speech pathology to me means being able to provide individuals with the tools to find their voice when they are unable to, or find difficulty, communicating independently. As a speech pathologist I feel I am able to make a positive impact on the lives of the families I work with, so that they may enjoy happy and enriched lives." In your eyes, how has our profession changed the landscape for women? "Speech pathology is predominantly a female-oriented profession. Within my degree course there were only two male students who had initially enrolled. It is a profession that women appear to dominate and excel at. Speech pathology has changed the landscape for women, as having few males has meant that we can advance and grow as a discipline without the worry of gender bias and inequality. Independently we have created our own governing body in Speech Pathology Australia and we have fought to make our discipline recognised as a medical profession."

54

Speak Out | June 2021