Now, she has been appointed the Deputy Chair of La Trobe University’s Gender Equity Advisory Group – and she’s excited to help make an impact in the gender equity space at La Trobe.
“La Trobe University has just won its second SAGE Cygnet Award for its work to encourage gender equity, diversity and inclusion which is fantastic,” she said.
“However, it’s important to remember that the award isn’t an endpoint, but rather a moment of celebration on the journey to gender equity in education. As a part of the Gender Equity Advisory Group, I hope to help the University continue its progress in this space.”
Dr Wijeyewickrema said her passion for gender equity in education stems from her family, and particularly her grandmother.
Born in 1922 in Sri Lanka, her grandmother was fortunate to have parents who believed in the importance of education and ensured she had a profession.
“She trained as a school teacher and eventually became a Headmistress,” Dr Wijeyewickrema said.
“She had strong views on the importance of education for a successful life, and this is reflected in her children’s achievements – five of them became engineers, including her only daughter, and her sixth child became an anaesthesiologist.”
Dr Wijeyewickrema said she was privileged to have her family’s encouragement, and the means, to pursue her education.
“Not everyone has that kind of backing, and without it, there are so many barriers to pursuing education, particularly for women,” she said.
“There are so many women who can’t continue their education for a variety of unique reasons – for example, having children, or financial barriers that make studying difficult. And even if they have the means, they don’t always have the same level of encouragement that men have to seize that opportunity.
“But the truth is, education is the greatest equalizer. It gives you the confidence, knowledge, and tools to stand tall in any room. To break barriers and be treated as an equal, you need the power of education behind you—it’s what opens doors and transforms lives.
“And honestly, that’s probably why I’m so confident—I know the power of what I bring to the table.”
At university, she studied Applied Biology before switching to Biochemistry in her second year, and has gone on to have a successful academic career which sees her examining the role protease enzymes play in helping our bodies fight infection.
Dr Wijeyewickrema said that throughout her academic career, she’s been fortunate to have had fantastic colleagues and mentors – men and women – who have helped her succeed.
“I’ve been incredibly fortunate to be mentored by some truly great male scientists and academics throughout my career. All my supervisors have been men, and I’ve learned so much from them—they’ve played a big role in shaping my career and contributing to its success,” she said.
But she says that ultimately, it’s the women she’s known who have made her successful in life and have inspired her to be a better version of herself.
“I often say my superpower is knowing great women and being friends with them – women who are smarter, stronger, braver, more ambitious, kinder, more generous, and far more accomplished than me,” she said.
“Many of them are scientists, and their brilliance and drive constantly push me to aim higher. So, while I owe a lot to the men who’ve mentored me, I owe just as much—if not more—to the incredible women who’ve been my colleagues, friends, role models, and cheerleaders along the way.”
Dr Wijeyewickrema has also been busy paying this encouragement forward with her outreach efforts to help girls and young women enter and continue in their tertiary education – something she is looking forward to continuing in her new role in the Gender Equity Advisory Group.
She hopes that in the future, the world will be a place where the equal treatment of women is assumed and no longer a topic of debate.
“Women are capable of excelling in every single job—there’s no question about that. But the frustrating reality is that we’re still constantly having to prove ourselves just to be seen and treated as equals. And honestly, it’s exhausting. We shouldn’t have to work twice as hard just to get half the recognition,” she said.
Reflecting on the importance of supporting women, she added, “There’s a powerful African proverb that says, ‘When you educate a man, you feed a family. When you educate a woman, you feed a village.’ This beautifully captures why it’s so critical to invest in women’s education. Studies show that empowering women doesn’t just change their own lives - it transforms entire communities.
“According to UNESCO, supporting women to achieve higher levels of education not only improves their own economic situation, but that of subsequent generations. It can help stop the spread of disease, reduce the maternal mortality rate, and boost women’s confidence and feeling of autonomy which in turn can help reduce the rate of family violence.
“My hope for the future is that we reach a point where we don’t have to talk about this anymore, because equal treatment – in education, at work, and in life – will simply be the norm.”
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Dr Lakshmi Wijeyewickrema is the Deputy Chair of La Trobe University’s Gender Equity Advisory Group. At LIMS, she leads the Protease Group as a part of the School of Agriculture, Biomedicine and Engineering (SABE), where she is also a Senior Lecturer in Biochemistry and the Deputy Director of Graduate Research.
Find out more about her research here: https://scholars.latrobe.edu.au/lwijeyewickr
