(CU)_Being ousted as Australia’s Prime Minister of Australia in 2013, was something she found hard to cope with. But she was not down for long. This inspiring lady soon realised what had driven her so far in her political career, a “sense of purpose about education and opportunity”.
Gender parity in global leadership is the ultimate goal of Julia Gillard, who became the first and only woman to be appointed as Prime Minister of Australia in 2010. However, a leadership spill in the Labour party ended her prime ministership in June 2013. However, it was her passion for equality in education that kept her going. “In my hardest days as prime minister the fact we were making a difference to education and opportunity sustained me,” she said. A few months after her resignation, she was appointed as chair of the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) and fellow of Brookings, an influential US think-tank.
Gillard believes the way to achieve in gender equality in global leadership is to enable girls and women to go to school. In 2016, she became patron for international education at the Campaign for Female Education (CAMFED), while serving as Chair of the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership at King’s College.
Born in Barry, Wales, Gillard migrated with her family to South Australia. Education played a critical role in her agenda as Prime Minister. “I will make education central to my economic agenda because of the role it plays in developing the skills that lead to rewarding and satisfying work – and that can build a high-productivity, high-participation economy,” she said at the National Press Club, in July, 2010.
The 60-year-old became well-known beyond Australian politics in 2012 after her parliamentary speech on misogyny went viral, as she expressed her frustration over gender inequality, which still drives her to support and encourage female leadership. “Perceptions of women leaders still have far too much of a focus on appearance, far too much a focus on family structures,” she told the Guardian during an interview. “There’s a predisposition to think that women end up in leadership positions are necessarily unlikeable, are hardball and all of those sort of stereotypes.”
