We ask Michelle King, RMIT's Vice-President Engagement, five questions about her career and passions.
1. What book or TV show are you into now?
I have spent lots of time recently in the fictional and non-fictional world of Arundhati Roy, having read her recent memoir and re-read her 1997 Booker Prize winning God of Small Things. She is a fantastic writer with a very compelling life story. I recommend both reads highly, as well as her 2017 novel The Ministry of Utmost Happiness.
2. What’s the greatest advice you’ve ever been given throughout your career?
This is a really difficult question. We all rely on advice as we are forging our careers and I have had the benefit of great mentors, so it is hard to choose one insight as the best. If I have to pick one golden nugget, I would choose the advice of a favourite senior female colleague. When discussing how to manage career growth plus kids plus further study, she said to me ‘You can have it all, but not all at once.’ This advice has proven useful in a variety of circumstances across many years. I have passed it onto lots of colleagues seeking my advice too. I think it is useful for us all to remember that patience and playing the long game are helpful for career planning and in life more generally.
3. If you had to choose a different career path, what would it be?
The most obvious alternative for me would have been to follow an academic pathway in public policy, most specifically higher education policy. While, not radically different to what I’ve done throughout my career, and do now, it would have brought the joys of teaching and deep research.
4. RMIT supports education throughout all stages of life. What would you choose to study and why?
I have long wanted to do PhD in higher education public policy. At this point, it is waiting for post-retirement.
5. If you had to choose three people to dine with (not including family or friends) who would you choose?
All these questions are quite hard to answer! I think I would need to go with Barack Obama just for the sake of his fantastic prose, Paul Keating (albeit probably the younger version) for his wit, and Arundhati Roy for her amazing life story and contemporary perspectives on India.
6. What’s one talent you wish you had?
I wish I was musical in general and could sing in particular.
