Warburton calls out male stereotypes

Sharon Warburton has encouraged businesses to embrace difference in their recruiting processes and not to denigrate the role that men play in providing opportunities to others.

Speaking at a Property Council of Australia WA Division event today, the Wesfarmers non-executive director said she would not have got to where she was today without the support of middle-aged white men.

“Given I was often the first to do many things, I was almost always different,” she said.

“I have felt different for most of my career, and today, I want to remember some of the people that opened doors for me, created chances for me and included me.

“To date, they have almost always fitted that stereotype of being middle-aged white men. There were many of them, and they were and still are wonderful human beings not fitting what comes with that stereotype of male, pale and stale.”

Ms Warburton added that she wanted to challenge the stereotype of women speaking out against men in business circles. 

“Often at these events we just beat them up, and I just don’t think that’s right,” she said.

The prominent professional director grew up in a caravan in Exmouth and was the first in her family to go to university, choosing Curtin over UWA.

“This was a bit of an out there thing in the 1990s,” she said.

“I describe myself as a rough diamond, I didn’t fit the St Georges Terrace mould.

“I could have counted on one hand the number of times I had been to Perth’s western suburbs before I started working.”

She singled out former KPMG boss Tony Taylor, who took a chance on Ms Warburton as an accounting graduate when she was not getting the same opportunities others were.

“I recall creating my own chances and sometimes not taking no for an answer,” she said.

She said most commerce graduates received letters from the major accounting firms inviting them to apply for jobs, but she never did.

“Despite having one of the best academic records in my year, I didn't qualify for one interview,” she said.

“Perhaps it was the wrong surname, the wrong address, or the wrong university; you get the drift.

“I didn't take no for an answer, I went and saw them, I rocked up to their offices in St Georges terrace, and said, ‘hey, why did my friends get an interview, why didn't I get one?

“That approach actually fell on deaf ears most of the time, except for a gentleman called Tony Taylor from KPMG, he gave me an interview and he gave me a job.”

Ms Warburton expressed her support of eliminating data from candidates’ resumes for early career jobs, in order to reduce unconscious bias.

She said if you hide people’s gender, age and race from an application, researched showed that it resulted in the selection of more diverse shortlists for positions.

“A lot of the big corporates have been doing it for a while now,” Ms Warburton told Business News after her presentation.

“In the nineties, it wasn’t happening, and I fell foul of it, but fortunately landed on my feet.”

During a panel session at the event The APP Group chief executive Property and Social Infrastructure Melanie Kurzydlo stressed the importance of strong female mentors.

“I’m a big believer that you can’t be what you can’t see,” she said.

“Not everyone has the courage to stand up and be the first person to do something, but if you do have the courage and you do believe that for yourself, I would implore you to do that, because you will inspire others to follow in your footsteps.”

Ms Warburton is a director at Worley, South32, and Mirvac Funds Management, and has held senior positions at Multiplex, Western Power, Fortescue Metals Group and AMP Capital in the past.

She is also a director of not-for-profit groups Perth Children’s Hospital Foundation and Karlka Nyiyaparli Aboriginal Corporation.

Speaking to Business News last year, Ms Warburton said she leveraged her experience in construction, infrastructure and mining to become one of the busiest professional directors in the country.

The Property Council event was held to celebrate International Women’s Day.