Senior women in the national security and intelligence community are underscoring the importance of having diversity in the room when discussions are had and decisions are made.
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Office of National Intelligence deputy director Nina Davidson joined former public servant and Canberra MP Gai Brodtmann and Accenture defence and national security director Meg Tapia agreed that women in the community often experienced "imposter syndrome" and felt they couldn't speak up.
The senior figures said they had all felt, at some point in their careers, a fear that other would not agree with them when they shared ideas or opinions in a new podcast series, Women in National Security, by ANU's National Security College released on Tuesday.
Ms Davidson, who has worked across roles within the economics and intelligence space, said she was able to excel in her field after she began to accept that not everyone at the table, who were often only men in her early days, would agree with her.
"You can't make everyone happy all the time," she said.
"Getting a diversity of views and ideas on the table is so important so if you hold back, you don't know ... what you might miss? And what might be possible out of that."
Ms Brodtmann, now a member of the National Security College's Futures Council, said it was often women self-imposing limits on themselves.
"Women are often their most common enemies when it actually comes to expressing themselves, to being bold," she said.
"I was reluctant to speak up because I was worried I'd cause offence.
"Once I found my voice, and I acknowledged that, 'okay, there'll be some people out there that won't agree with me' but I felt really empowered and emboldened by it and I wasn't frightened anymore.
"That's amazingly liberating."
The intelligence deputy director added women needed to remind themselves that they could bring valuable and unique insights to the table.
"It's just coming back to what is the value I bring, I can bring value here, I am here for a reason," Ms Davidson said.
The podcast's debut on Tuesday coincides with International Women's Day, which is centred around the theme Break the Bias.
The theme focuses on breaking stereotypes and calling out gender-based biases
Sarah Basford Canales
I'm a federal politics and public sector reporter with an interest in national security, integrity and regulation. Contact me with general tips and thoughts at sarah.basfordcanales@canberratimes.com.au or confidential tips to sbasfordcanales@protonmail.com.
I'm a federal politics and public sector reporter with an interest in national security, integrity and regulation. Contact me with general tips and thoughts at sarah.basfordcanales@canberratimes.com.au or confidential tips to sbasfordcanales@protonmail.com.
