Introduction by Croakey Professional Services: Doing a PhD in a health-related field can be a hard slog, but it helps to have a project that’s close to your heart, important and under-researched, and backed by people who believe in you.
Penelope Smith, the subject of the latest instalment in our #LeadingWomen series, has all these things in spades.
In the profile below, provided by the Women in Public Health (WPH) network, Smith describes how she brings her family and her own experiences to her research into international healthcare workers’ experiences in Australia.
She also talks about the “collective of women” leading, working, and researching in health, who have played a vital role in supporting, encouraging and improving the work she does.
The #LeadingWomen series is published by Croakey Professional Services as sponsored content, with WPH support.
Edwina Pearse and Sarah Jackson write:
Penelope Smith’s PhD research shines a light on the experiences of an under-recognised group within our health workforce: newly arrived international health workers without citizenship.
Based in rural northeast Victoria, Smith’s work has unexpectedly become a hot-button issue, coming at a critical time as the country grapples with healthcare workforce challenges – an issue that existed before COVID-19, but was intensified by the pandemic and recent global upheavals.
For Smith, this research is more than just an academic pursuit; it’s a deeply personal exploration of identity, gender, and the power of women supporting women in public health.
Her journey into this field is rooted in her own family history.
“My father was one of the first overseas workers from the Philippines under the formalised Labor Code implemented by Ferdinand Marcos in 1974,” Smith explains. “He came to work in Papua New Guinea as part of this new wave of overseas workers.”
This personal connection has fuelled her passion for understanding the experiences of international health workers, particularly women of colour, who now form a significant part of this workforce.
The intersection of gender, race, and citizenship status in healthcare is at the heart of Smith’s research. She notes a significant shift in the demographics of overseas workers, particularly from the Philippines.
“What we’ve seen with Filipino overseas workers is a shift from mostly men to mostly women – and we’ve seen a connection to the global care chain,” she observes.
Women supporting women
The journey to bring this research to fruition has been far from easy.
Smith candidly admits, “It was really difficult to keep yourself motivated… I was really struggling not to give into the pressure to do a different project or to do my project differently.”
However, it was the support and encouragement from a network of influential women in public health that kept her going, showing the power of women supporting women in academia and public health.
“When I think about women in public health, I think of the collective of women, the group rather than individuals,” says Smith. “I can see the pathway to my PhD success is only possible because of women I have surrounded myself with.”
She credits several key figures for bringing her PhD to life.
Lauren Cordwell, CEO of the Rural Workforce Agency of Victoria, was instrumental in providing early support and validation for Smith’s research.
“Lauren has been a key motivator to keep me going,” Smith shares.
“There’s a really big difference between somebody saying, ‘You are great, you’re doing well,’ and someone saying, ‘This is why it’s a good project. This is why it needs to happen.’”
Smith also mentions Kristen Glenister, previous co-convener of the Diversity Equity Inclusion special interest group at the Public Health Association, and Dr Rowan O’Hagan and Jacqui Verdon at Northeast Health Wangaratta, as people who have enabled the opportunity to do her project.
These women have also provided ongoing support and guidance and helped her navigate the complexities of her research within the healthcare system.
Examining relationships and power
Smith emphasises the importance of a feminist relational model in research.
“A feminist relational model of undertaking research is not just protective, it actually produces quality research,” she says. Smith argues that this approach is particularly crucial in rural areas.
“Relationality isn’t just a soft female thing. Relationality is actually how we do successful work in rural areas.”
The challenges Smith faces as a woman of colour in academia are not lost on her. “It is dangerous to not be a white man,” she notes, highlighting the difficulties faced by researchers from diverse backgrounds.
Her experiences have given her valuable insights into the struggles of international health workers.
“Some of what I’ve experienced is personally very difficult but is giving me insights into a tiny bit of what these international health workers are experiencing,” she says.
“It is tough. It’s really tough.”
As Smith reflects on a recent conference presentation, she considers the importance of her research in the current healthcare landscape.
With increasing numbers of international health workers set to be recruited to Victoria over the next several years, her work stands to make a significant impact on how the healthcare system supports and integrates these vital professionals.
As well as shedding light on a neglected group within our health workforce, Penelope Smith’s research and personal journey demonstrate what can be achieved when women support women to bring their knowledge, skills, perspectives and evidence to the public health table.
Nourishing and transformative
Explaining the significance of the photos with this story, Smith says: “My father’s country, the Philippines, has 7,641 islands. We are surrounded by water.
“Water is purifying, cleaning, nourishing, transformative. These photographs are of water on the Country I currently live and undertake my research on.
“Water is used by Indigenous people globally for ceremony. I have been lucky enough to be part of a number of water ceremonies, including a Larrakia water ceremony when I worked for the Fred Hollows Foundation.
“I enter water on the Country where I live now to nourish and calm myself and remind myself that I am a guest on the land and that my work as a non-Indigenous woman of colour is deeply tied to the sovereignty of First Nations people.”
• Penelope Smith is a University of Tasmania PhD Candidate, based on Bpangerang land in northeast Victoria.
The #LeadingWomen series of articles is funded by the Women in Public Health Network. This article was written by Edwina Pearse and Sarah Jackson and edited by Dr Ruth Armstrong.
Women in Public Health is grateful to our funding partners, VicHealth and Health and Wellbeing Queensland, for their support. Their commitment is crucial in helping us advance our mission to empower women in the public health sector and promote gender equality.
