Tell me about yourself
After a day of interviewing young women for the World Academy, Friday was a day of interviewing the young men. In total, I interviewed about 30 over the course of the day.
I think that I mentioned before that there was never a plan for there to be a Men’s Academy for the Future of Women, but that it had come about because of the tenacious determination by a handful of young men on campus. In speaking with them, I find myself marveling at the fact that in such a traditional country, that they chose to take a stand on supporting women. I’m thinking that this is one of those ‘only at Sias’ things, because the campus gives them the opportunity and a safe environment to learn more about current thinking outside of China.
In interviewing the young men, it is very clear that many of them are very aware of the inequalities that many Chinese women have to endure. One young man explains that although his sister was much brighter then him, she’d had to drop out of high school and get a job, so that the family could afford to send him to school.
After the interviews were over, it was my turn to be on the receiving end. In anticipation of Sias’ 15th anniversary next year, the University has commissioned a book which will include chapters on all of the Board Members, and on Friday, it was my turn to be interviewed. I’d been promised that the interview would be 90 minutes or so, but in the end, it was a lot closer to 4 hours. What I found interesting was the very different interview style, and the level of detail they were looking for, as I responded to the author’s questions.
As I talked about how my parents had always worked from the assumption that I would go to university, the author was keen for me to share concrete examples. One story that came back to me was about my mother buying me a slide rule, which at the time (1972 or so) was mandatory for all students. There was a particular model that was recommended for studies up to ‘O’ level (Junior High), but my mum had decided that wasn’t going to be good enough for me. I remember visiting the store with her, and after having my mother reject the basic model, the salesman came out with a fancier and more expensive model. I don’t think that we’d even got it out of the packaging, when my mum asked if that was the best they had. When the salesmen said no, he then started to talk about how there was a top-end model that was aimed at under-graduate students, and would be overkill for my needs. I think that you’ve probably worked out which model I got. The not-so-subtle message to me being that I wasn’t getting a slide rule that would see me through high school, but one that would see me through University, and that one day, I’d probably be buried with.
We really did go over my whole life in a lot of detail, and while I found it exhausting (particularly because the interview was through a translator), it did dredge up some wonderful memories, like how proud my Dad was when he watched me receive my MBA from Sir John Harvey-Jones, and both of my parent’s over-arching belief in the transformative power of education.
After the interview, I scurried across campus for another meeting over drinks, and as I listened to the conversation, I found the jet-lag both overtaking and overwhelming me. Everyone that I’m here with is intent on doing their best for the students, so it makes for energetic, passionate and ultimately, exhausting conversations. I was so tired afterwards, that I don’t even remember falling into bed, although I know I slept contentedly and soundly.