Though his career spans almost three decades, Freddie Quek of Times Higher Education has only recently come to accept his place as an industry leader and role model. As an Asian IT manager in the UK, he believes he has had to put in more effort throughout his career to win recognition amongst his peers – and to gain advancement.
“As a minority, you have to work a lot harder just to be equal,” he says, paraphrasing a dispiriting but common axiom – cited by former US president Barack Obama, among many other minority figures who have gained positions of authority – that minorities have to work twice as hard as anyone else just to get by.
Quek has experienced discrimination firsthand, from being treated differently by stakeholders early in his career to seeing internal promotions for which he was well-qualified offered elsewhere, including to members of his own team. Struggling against that has engendered perhaps Quek’s most self-affirming realisation: confidence is key to overcoming professional hurdles.
“I’ve reached a point in my career at which … you don’t give a damn about what other people think of you anymore,” Quek says.
