Aim high, women urged aim high

 WOMEN should aim high in their chosen profession, says Nene Santa-Cruz, the founder of the PNG Secretaries Association now the PNG Association of Administrative Professionals.

Speaking during the organisation’s 15th anniversary dinner last week, she said the level of aspiration was low among women in the past.

However, the trend was changing due to new technology and globalisation and many women were going on to higher education after secretarial studies and this was very encouraging, she said.

Santa-Cruz said in PNG women were not united enough to help support each other excel. Instead, they had a “crab mentality” where if a woman was progressing, other woman did not encourage or support her but instead tended to pull away, stand back and watch or even put up a challenge.

“Because the association recognises the importance of administrative professionals, the association also supports its members who want to further their education by paying their school fees,” she said

Santa-Cruz challenged women who were at the dinner to be united and help support each other to be equal to men.

“Because of globalisation, people are exposed to other styles of doing things and so we must learn to deal with other cultures and have an open mind about the changes that are taking place,” she said