SI Asia checks in with AVIXA Women’s Council – Singapore, in celebration and honour of women.
AVIXA the global association for the audio visual industry established the AVIXA Women’s Council (AWC) to provide a global community of AVIXA members and other professionals committed to supporting and empowering women who work in the technology and AV industry. There was a lot of ongoing awareness through AVIXA Women’s Council on a global level and the council was looking to expand the community outside of America. Last year alone, AWC Singapore, Taiwan, Indonesia and UK were founded. AWC Singapore was established on 19th January 2021.
The current co-chairs of AWC Singapore are Maureen Aw from PTS Consulting and Dina Menon from Electronics & Engineering.
“Both of us had the same vision of creating a community and a platform for like-minded women in our industry to come together, creating a support system for each other as we grow in our careers. This is especially so in a male dominant environment such as ours, where women are the minority. So we connected with the AWC Chair and subsequently the council here in Singapore was formed,” says Maureen.
“Women generally face more challenges than men in workplace. Just to name a few – motherhood, equal pay, harassment, career/ leadership opportunities and unconscious bias. I am sure each of us faced one or the other before and we can definitely learn from each other’s experiences and grow stronger together,” adds Dina.
AWC Singapore currently has six active members and a handful who are registered as members but not fully active. “Some of them are male participants, and yes, men are welcome too. We are actively seeking more members to join!,” says Dina.
The objectives of AWC Singapore remain aligned with the the AVIXA Women’s Council and with the COVID-19 restrictions, the group has kept in touch both via their WhatsApp Group chat and also through video-conferencing.
“We are keen to kick start some activities into the market and hope that the current restrictions will be eased further so as to allow us to spend a little more time together in person. We are all definitely looking forward to that day!,” says Maureen.
We were keen to know what else can the AV industry in Singapore do to change the bias.
Maureen highlights, “I truly believe that awareness is the first step to any change. I have men telling me that I should be “thankful” that I am a women set out in Singapore’s workplace environment. Yes, and I can’t deny that we are fortunate, in Singapore. The bias does not seem as apparent as perhaps in other parts of the world, and we are blessed in this regard. However, looking at the statistics, only about one third of women hold management roles and this percentage may even be skewed in our male dominant AV industry. Align with International Women’s Day (IWD)’s mission, we seek to forge a gender equal world. Celebrating women’s achievements and increasing visibility, while calling out inequality, is key.
Another step we can take is to help create interest in female students taking Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics (STEM) or other related courses. Only with a substantial intake of female students in the relevant courses will there be a likelihood for them to eventually end up in the AV industry. Personally, I have been involved in induction tours for female students in STEM programme, giving them an overview of the things we do at work, showing them how it could be relevant to what they are studying, with the intention to spark an interest in them. I believe this are the little steps we can take to play our part.”
Are we seeing any improvement in terms of opportunities, salaries, respect for women?
“I think globally we are seeing improvement over the years. We have seen statistics and reports showing that the percentage of women in leadership positions have risen, pay gap between men and women has narrowed, more companies making a stand on diversity, inclusivity, and equal opportunities in their hiring criteria, etc. I think people are more aware and conscious these days, which is a great step especially looking at how far we have come,” says Dina.
Maureen adds on, “However, I have also been in situation where I was given a lower pay as compared to my counterpart (who is a male) holding the same position, and I wasn’t given an explanation when questioned. Therefore, in line with this year International Women’s Day we are here to #BreakTheBias. Celebrate women’s achievement. Raise awareness against bias. Take action for equality.”
Each year the AVIA Women’s Council celebrates International Women’s Day in a meaningful way with a message or objective. This year AWC Singapore has decided to promote a message that they feel can be easily practised by everyone their daily lives and also something that COVID-19 will not be able to stand in the way of.
“We would like to achieve this really as a campaign that starts on a personal level with every individual; which we are fondly terming GIVE A HOOT, DON’T POLLUTE, in line with encouraging everyone to do their part to Recycle, Reuse, Reduce and Save The Earth! Also, in line with the theme that AVIXA has been emphasising as well on Sustainability,” highlights Dina.
“Let’s all join to celebrate Women not only today but every day and let’s all do our part in their noble ‘Save The Earth’ campaign and to #BreakTheBias,” comments Thomas Richard Prakasam, Publisher, Systems Integration Asia.
AWS Singapore member Jez Lim from Analog Way says, “I joined the council to get to know more women in our AV community. I hope to support others and get support, be inspiring and get inspired by my peers.”
Another member Priscilla Ho from ESCO adds, “To be around like-minded peers in this industry, be with the heroines/ legends of the minority group in AV.”
AWS Singapore is actively seeking more members to join them. You may get in touch with any of the members to state your interest.
