While studying at Â鶹ֱ²¥, Dikshita Awotarowa began researching networking opportunities for women wanting to pursue careers in the\u00a0finance and investment industry.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs a student I felt networking is very key,\u201d Awotarowa explains. \u201cSo, I used a bit of my time to research on existing networks for finance professionals and didn\u2019t find many for women.\u201d<\/p>\n
Awotarowa, who graduated from Â鶹ֱ²¥ with a first-class Bachelor of Commerce (Finance) (Hons) in 2020, decided to start her own network with the hope of increasing gender equality in the industry.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom birth you\u2019ve been directed: you\u2019re going to be a wife and a mother, you shouldn\u2019t be too career-focused, you shouldn\u2019t want to be the head of something \u2013 and this bothered me,\u201d she says.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
In 2018, Awotarowa launched Girls in Finance (GIF) network \u2013 a non-profit and independent membership organisation that aims to provide career opportunities to young women working in the finance industry.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was thinking ahead and thought, \u2018okay so it\u2019s not really happening in this part of the world (Africa and Asia), and it has to be\u2019,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
\u201cGIF is creating a common platform for knowledge sharing, mentorship and professional networking for girls who have an interest in pursuing a career in finance and investment banking, or girls performing finance roles at their workplaces.\u201d<\/p>\n
Then in 2021, Awotarowa began working as a financial market research analyst at the CGIA Africa Regional Operations Office located in Accra, Ghana, and noticed most of the executives in meetings she attended were male.<\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes I was the only woman seated in the conference room,\u201d she recalls.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou look around and don\u2019t find any other woman aside from yourself: the CEO is a man, the managing director is a man, the head of finance is a man, they are all men.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou would see women when it comes to HR, marketing. I started asking myself questions. \u2018Why is that so?\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is definitely an issue of women under-representation in this industry and so I started studying the market.\u201d<\/p>\n
As a result, in March this year, Awotarowa founded the Women in Finance and Investment Network (WIFIN), of which she is also the president.<\/p>\n
WIFIN is a non-profit organisation dedicated to giving women the opportunity to receive the highest level of professional education, build credibility and tap into a global network to pursue a career in the finance and investment industry.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe offer training, workshops for young graduates, some of the soft skills that you require,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll our trained members are open for internships and job opportunities. We have companies that want to increase the number of women working in the finance department, they come to us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Support from various companies has allowed WIFIN, to have a presence in many countries including Mauritius, Ghana, South Africa, Kenya and Botswana \u2013 and GIF is now an initiative under WIFIN.<\/p>\n
Awotarowa, who completed her degree and honours in Perth after spending three years studying at Curtin Mauritius, credits her time at university for preparing her for the workforce.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe whole four years of my finance academic journey wasn\u2019t easy, but it taught me how to persevere, how to excel in your studies,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy job is to study markets in Africa and Asia, and many thought I would struggle learning how to use the financial software or using financial data, but I didn\u2019t. I was good to go and it\u2019s all because of this learning from my Curtin journey.\u201d<\/p>\n
She also believes her move from Mauritius to Perth gave her the confidence to live and work anywhere in the world.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think I was just surrounded by an amazing environment at Curtin, and it made the whole journey smooth,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis whole experience in Australia shaped me, it moulded me a lot into a person who can travel anywhere in the world and will be fine.\u201d<\/p>\n
Awotarowa plans to use her skills and experience to continue to advocate for women in the finance and investment industry.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe (WIFIN) are an additional voice towards achieving diversity and inclusion,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re not the only voice, there are other institutions, other networks, other organisations who are trying to achieve the same thing.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe should be an amplifier of this conversation, we shouldn\u2019t be in rivalry, we should all get together and work alongside each other.\u201d<\/p>\n
WIFIN\u2019s vision is to achieve gender balance in the finance and investment management industry and hopes by 2050 that 40% of senior roles in the corporate world will be filled by women.<\/p>\n
The organisation plans to achieve this by focusing on emerging markets before WIFIN expands to established markets, as well as sparking inclusive conversation.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want to make it a global network with opportunities,\u201d she says. \u201cTo network with conversations with both genders.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t believe that we should just talk to women. No, we talk with both men and women. I believe it\u2019s only when you have these conversations with both genders that you will be able to make change.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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