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> Pippa Druce
Pippa Druce
- How did you come to be living and working in Beijing?
I applied for a position with the United Nations Development Fund for Women China office. I was seeking a position in the UN and wanted to build on my experience in the health sector. Having worked on the Asia Regional Programme with the Australian Agency for International Development, working in Asia was a natural step.
- What are some of your daily work activities?
I manage several advocacy and research projects under the United Nations Joint Programme on HIV/AIDS, and am the focal point for the United Nations Joint Programme on Ending Violence Against Women. I manage relationships with other UN agencies as well as Chinese counterpart organisations.
- In your role, what are the highlights of working with different cultures?
I have always worked within multicultural teams and I believe that this will increasingly be the norm. In my experience, learning new perspectives is always valuable. I really enjoy learning from my Chinese colleagues and together we make an efficient team. We also have a lot of fun. Karaoke sessions with my colleagues and their families come to mind.
- How do you manage the cultural differences?
Over time, you learn to recognise and manage your own expectations in the workplace. As westerners, we often want fast, clear answers to direct questions, information to be shared with all parties at all times, and for decision-making to be logical or merit-based. In China, answers may not always be clear, problems may not always be discussed freely, information is not always circulated beyond a need-to-know audience, and decision-making is often linked to a history of relationships. The more I recognise my own bias and expectations, the more I can adapt my attitudes to the situation at hand. I always bounce ideas off my Chinese colleagues to try to understand how they would solve a problem.
- What do you enjoy most about living in Beijing?
Beijing is enormously diverse and constantly evolving. I most enjoy discovering new places, sampling new dishes and generally being surprised by the Chinese people and the city.
- Looking forward, how can Australia make a stronger contribution towards building positive relations with Asia?
On the one hand, Australia has a lot to offer in terms of supporting Asian initiatives in fields of social development, business, and culture. That said, our visibility is not high - we need to make ourselves relevant to the region. Australia is committed to building mutual understanding between our country and the region, and I feel there is a positive trend. However, this investment needs to be deeper - investing in relationships over the long-term will embed us within the region.
