Advocating for equity behind the scenes
Advocating for equity behind the scenes
24 September 2019
Mission Events Coordinator Adele Masters is passionate about gender equity in the tech space.
When she joined the NSW/ACT Divisional Tech Team, stage manager Adele Masters was the only female member. She spoke to Others writer Lauren Martin about her passion for gender equity and encouraging women and girls to pursue their passion.
Lauren: What’s it like to be a female in a male-dominated ministry in The Salvation Army?
Adele: When we look at live theatre and if we look at live events, the majority of the industry is female. Two-thirds of stage managers are female (if not more) at a professional level. And, so, for years it has really been quite hard for me. When I wasn’t on Divisional Tech Team, and I looked at the team, it was full of males and I knew that it didn’t reflect the professional industry. If we’re a church that wants to reflect the world around us, well in this space we’re not.
In tech, there is a lot of equality – there are a lot of females, there are a lot of males ... you don’t really notice it, you just do the job. So, for me, stepping into that role on the Divisional Tech Team, it was important to actually be a female voice there and say, ‘Hey, if you’re passionate about tech, there are so many female technicians in the real world, you can do this professionally, but you can also do this as a ministry’.
We’ve seen, I think, with the addition of me to the team, we’ve seen more females join and feel comfortable to say, ‘Hey, I want to do tech’, and come and hang out. Which is really exciting!
Lauren: It’s something you’re obviously very passionate about.
Adele: Yes! We [The Salvation Army] should be reflecting the world in that aspect and it makes me sad that there aren’t more females doing tech in church. They often get shoved into doing other jobs.
Lauren: Like looking after the kids?
Adele: Yeah, they often do kids ministry, or they do youth ministry, or they hang out in the kitchen. But there are so many female technicians in the world that we really need a space for female technicians to feel passionate about church ministry. The fact that we’re now able to provide that [through the NSW/ACT Divisional Tech Team] and have grown in that, is really exciting. My first Youth Councils there were only a handful of girls helping in the tech space, and now we regularly have four or five females, which is probably a third of our team, which is crazy growth in two years.
Lauren: So, how do you get that message out? How do you encourage girls and women who are passionate in that space to step up?
Adele: I think sometimes it’s just a ‘being seen’ thing. As a stage manager, I often get to walk on stage and move a stand or something, and I think it’s important that it’s seen. It’s like, ‘Oh, a female is standing there, I could do that,’ without it being a big conversation.
Also, myself and James Cox have, in the past, run the tech ministry stream at Equip Camp to try and equip the next generation and train them up. We found that with the introduction of me as a leader in that space, the number of females that do it grew and the number of females that cross over into our Divisional Tech Team has grown.
So, it’s just about building relationships and inviting people in and making them feel a part of it. Our aim is that every kid that comes to equip – male or female – and is trained up and passionate about tech could come into the Divisional Tech Team. We’re saying, ‘If you’re passionate, come and join us, come and hang out.’ We want to try and provide an opportunity for you to explore that, whether you’re a boy or girl.
People who are interested in finding out more about the NSW/ACT Divisional Tech Team can email NSWACTYouthandKids@aue.salvationarmy.org
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