Tania Domett: Destabilising Caregiving Gender Norms — How to Smash the Motherhood Penalty

When we become mothers, we can often be surprised at the changes that it creates in our lives and this episode is a great reminder of that. Tania Domett is an all-round legend and champion of mothers. She is an entrepreneur and as well as running Cogo a research agency she founded 10 years ago she is also a co-founder of Project Gender - a feminist innovation studio delivering radical change through insights research, campaigns, and products and services. Project Gender was recently instrumental in getting a National Women’s Health Strategy into legislation and now policy – after hearing from thousands of women across NZ about their challenges accessing healthcare and partnering with health professionals on a massive campaign.

This episode was recorded before the pre-election policy announcements on paid parental leave (I feel like they must have heard our conversation) - bring it on!

In our conversation, Tania shares her story and her experience of becoming a mother as well as solutions to smashing the motherhood penalty.

How being a late bloomer is a beautiful thing – Tania’s first office job was at age 38.
The joining of forces with Angela Mayer to create Project Gender to bring a gender lens to the 2020 election - You Choose 2020. They advocated for a National Women’s Health Strategy and now it is a formal policy.
Saying yes to everything. Putting yourself out there. Even if it means hiding in the loos during networking events.
How Motherhood is vastly different from Fatherhood.
How a feminist can so easily become a 1950’s housewife when you become a mother.
Why smashing the system needs part time roles that are seen as leadership roles and men need to be the targets for flexible working.
Measuring the right things to close the gender gap – how many men taking flexible roles, how many men taking parental leave, etc
How on-site childcare and school holiday programmes help you by not hiding your identity as a working parent.
How Paid Parental Leave for all parents helps to destabilise the gender norm of women as caregivers and men as providers. We are one of 3 countries in the world that do not have paid partner leave. If we had this – we would dismantle barriers right at the beginning of your family.
Hope is not a strategy – action is!

Connect with Emma

This podcast was funded by Works for Everyone, a business based in NZ and operating globally that supports working parents to stay in the leadership pipeline through coaching, workshops, and advocacy.

Your host, Emma Mclean, is a mother of three teenagers, an Executive Coach and the Founder of Works for Everyone. Following a successful 25-year career in corporate marketing, Emma launched her business in 2019 to put a care wrap around working parents at the hardest time in their career. She is an ACC certified coach with the International Coaching Federation, the recipient of the 2022 Jaguar/Viva She Sets the Pace Community Grant, alumni of the 2021 NZ Leadership Programme, and a Swiftie (a lifelong Taylor Swift fan).

To work with Emma or enquire about speaking – emma@worksforeveryone.co.nz

www.worksforeveryone.co.nz

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https://www.linkedin.com/in/emma-mclean-9176217/