Ms Emanuelle Jones, Head of Junior Technologies
The bulletproof she-preneur stands on the precipice of a new era. Her iPhone facilitates her dna-like encoded comfort with social media. She watches the sun rise while taking a ‘selfie’ in her own brand’s distinctive ‘#activewear’. This, she can upload to ‘insta’ for her hundred thousand followers to admire and potentially purchase through her visionary virtual store-front. The she-preneur is a versatile creature born of today’s digital reality. Her online presence is today’s normality for those who know nothing other than a world of screens, connectedness and online possibility.
Millennials (born between 1980 and 2000) are overloaded with Facebook feeds discussing political instability, soaring house prices, mounting debt and lack of job security. They decide to take a stand! Concerned about their future in the dwindling job market, a surge of millennials have created their own businesses. They are prepared to take risks in order to future-proof their finances. They know how to manipulate social media and utilise palm technologies to forge a source of income.
Traditional career paths may not exist by the time our students graduate. Paul Nielsen, Chairman of the Council of Small Business (Christensen, 2016), said that the number of students studying law at university has outgrown the number of jobs available by a third. The question is: how do we prepare our students for the future job market?
This question was at the fore when Brisbane Girls Grammar School was developing its Strategic Design 2016–2019. At our School, under the pillar of ‘Systematic Curiosity in Teaching, Learning and Research’ lies the strategy to ‘nurture and celebrate creativity, entrepreneurial thinking and a sense of possibility, wonder and awe’. Carving a niche out of uncertainty will be an essential skill of the future. We recognise that it is important to equip our girls with the ability to take risk given the possibilities that the ever-evolving digital world will present.
The Technology Studies programme has been formulated to foster the technical confidence and independence that will be integral to preparing our students for a work future likely to require adaptive, entrepreneurial mindsets and approaches. The work context that the millennials will find themselves contending with will require them to embrace ‘the digital’ and harness it or pursue the dwindling number of enterprises that cannot be subsumed by the unrelenting automation revolution.
Starting in Year 7, our course synthesises digital literacy and practical capabilities. Students work to real timelines for fictional companies whether it be fabricating an electronic product while interfacing with a laser cutter to create their own UX brand virtual store-front, User eXperience. Furthermore, our senior course offers opportunities to explore the world of interactive ‘app’ design and responsive Web design for real clients.
Most teenagers have grown up with social media and smartphones, and some young people are turning their knowledge of the latest technologies to their advantage. Teen she-preneur, Izzi Dymalovski, launched skin-care business Luv Ur Skin at 14. The idea for her thriving business began at the tender age of eight, when her mother, Sonja, would not let her use adult make-up remover. Izzi said, ‘Use baby products? I’m not a baby; I don’t want to use baby products’ (Hanrahan, 2016). Her mother encouraged her to make her own products, but did not realise how seriously Izzi would take the dream.
This month, the Year 9 student officially launched her range, her products now being sold in 370 Priceline Stores across the country. Featuring a variety of moisturisers, face washes, nail polishes and body lotions, the Luv Ur Skin range is targeted at teens and tweens. She says success has been a battle and a long time coming, stating that the hardest part of the process was being taken seriously by adults. ‘I go into meetings and the people there all underestimate me and direct their questions at mum instead of me’, Isabella said (Naughtin, 2015). ‘But then when I start answering the questions they kind of sit up and realise that I’m actually the one in charge.’
Our School is at the forefront of education, a leader in exceptional educational scholarship, but we are acutely aware that we must foster students’ ability to manage risk in changing environments. Confidence, independence, agility and well-developed digital literacy form the dna sequence of the she-preneur.
References
Christensen, A. (2016, July 1). Millennials start own businesses in wake of shaky job market. Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved from http://www.smh.com.au/small-business/trends/millennials-start-own-businesses-in-wake-of-shaky-job-market-20160630-gpvea4.html
Hanrahan, J. (2016, July 6). Luv Ur Skin! Young entrepreneur creates her own skin care line for teens and tweens at just 14… now it is being sold in hundreds of pharmacies nationwide. Daily Mail Australia. Retrieved from http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-3676201/Luv-Ur-Skin-created-Izzi-Dymalovski-14-sold-Priceline-stores-country.html
Naughtin, P. (2015, November 24).Teen Isabella Dymalovski focused on growing cosmetics business Luv Ur Skin. Port Phillip Leader. Retrieved from http://www.heraldsun.com.au/leader/inner-south/teen-isabella-dymalovski-focused-on-growing-cosmetics-business-luv-ur-skin/news-story/4ac82b4162220beb3e86948da852dc14