Alumni Stories
GRADS 2026: Jane Phuong
From a childhood shaped by lecture halls and long journeys across the sea, to a research career examining women’s leadership, Jane Phuong’s life has always been defined by connection – to her mother, to her community, and now to the next generation she hopes to empower.
Jane is graduating with a PhD from the University of Canberra this March – and she often jokes that she was “born in a university.” Both of her parents were university lecturers in Vietnam, and her childhood was shaped by classrooms, conversations and ideas. She grew up surrounded by multiple languages and cultures, moving between regions of Vietnam, where family and relatives lived in the north, centre and south.
“That environment made me naturally curious,” she says. “Language doesn’t just help you communicate – it teaches you another way to see the world.”
Education was never an abstract concept in her home. It was lived experience. But the strongest influence was her mother, whose academic journey would quietly shape Jane’s own.
One of Jane’s earliest memories is of driving with her mother to the airport and watching her leave for study abroad – a moment both ordinary and profound. Her mother had crossed oceans multiple times to pursue education, including four years in Cuba on scholarship, and later returned to study in Australia at the Canberra College of Advanced Education (CCAE) – now the University of Canberra – in 1991. Today, Jane has followed that path, making them both alumnae of UC.
For Jane, those departures were framed not as absence, but as possibility.
“In a patriarchal society, people ask who will take care of the family when a woman travels,” she says. “I admired her bravery. I understood very early that education required sacrifice.”
Decades later, Jane would walk the same campus paths.
She is now a casual research assistant in the Faculty of Business, Government and Law, after teaching at UC’s Graduate Research School in 2023, and previously working in universities in Vietnam and at UNSW.
“It’s a privilege to teach here,” she says. “My mum studied here. Being part of this place connects my past and present.”
Some of that connection is tangible. The Library, where her mother spent many hours studying, still carries a familiar feeling for Jane. Walking through the building – even noticing small details that remind her of earlier times on campus – brings a sense of continuity. She once even tried to find her mother’s name in old borrowing records, knowing it was unlikely but wanting to try anyway.
“In Vietnamese culture, a teacher is like a parent,” Jane says. “I still feel connected to the people who taught her. That connection is the most important thing.”
That sense of continuity gradually shaped her research. After completing postgraduate study and teaching marketing in Vietnam, Jane moved to Australia and noticed something striking – the visibility of women leaders in universities.
“I started wondering how Vietnam compared,” she says.
Her PhD explored women in academic leadership in Vietnam, combining personal experience with academic analysis. Rather than a simple comparison, she discovered a complex reality.
In Vietnam, support for working mothers often comes through a mix of institutional practices and family networks. Some universities once provided free childcare for staff, allowing mothers to visit their children during breaks, particularly while breastfeeding.
Today childcare is usually paid but remains far less expensive than in countries like Australia, and many families rely on grandmothers to help care for children when women pursue careers or travel for work.
Yet despite these support structures, women still face invisible barriers to leadership, often needing social privilege and strong personal networks to reach senior roles.
“It’s like swimming alone in a river,” she says. “Some people have a boat. Many don’t.”
Her research also uncovered historical contradictions. During wartime, women undertook roles later denied to them in times of peace – revealing how leadership opportunities could be shaped by social context rather than ability.
Even the language surrounding leadership mattered. In Vietnamese culture, the notion of women with ambition can carry negative connotations, particularly if it appears to challenge traditional family expectations.
“The university system [in Vietnam] was designed for men with wives,” she says. “Women pay a price that people don’t always see.”
Jane’s work now focuses on making those hidden barriers visible. Through conference presentations, research forums and public talks – from the University of Canberra’s HDR Bazaar to international conferences on gender, sociology and leadership – she encourages audiences to reflect on their own journeys and the structures shaping them.
Her talks often end with a simple question: At what stage of the river are you? In Vietnamese culture, water is a powerful and widely used metaphor, shaping language, identity and ways of expressing life’s challenges and transitions.
Different women – students, academics, professionals – answer differently, but the conversation always opens understanding.
“That’s why communicating research matters,” she says. “Metaphors help people recognise experiences they couldn’t explain before.”
At UC, those conversations are supported by community. Jane credits colleagues in Graduate Research and the Faculty of Business, Government and Law, particularly fellow academic Dr Robin Ladwig, for both personal and professional encouragement.
The university environment has shaped Jane as much as she has contributed to it. Through her work in the Faculty of Business, Government and Law, she has helped build a stronger sense of community among Higher Degree by Research students – an effort recognised with a UC Ambassador of Change award.
“UC made me stronger,” she says. “I became more independent and less afraid to ask questions.”
Completing her thesis already feels like success, yet her goals extend beyond publication or promotion. She wants students to engage with ideas deeply rather than memorise content, and she would like to see universities prioritise critical thinking.
But her strongest motivation is closer to home.
Jane is raising two children, and her daughter – who is currently finishing Year 12 – wants to become an early childhood educator. Watching her children grow reshapes the meaning of her research.
“I want my daughter to be confident,” she says. “And I want my son to understand that women have agency too.”
The journey that began with watching her mother leave at an airport continues in the everyday conversations she has with her own children now.
If her mother could see her today, Jane hopes she would recognise both continuity and independence – not just a life inherited, but one expanded.
“She was the starting point,” Jane says. “But this is also my own journey.”
Across generations, across cultures, and across campuses, the thread remains the same: connection – carried forward, questioned, and passed on.
Words by Jonathan Le Bourhis, photos by David Barber.
Congratulations to all our graduates this March and welcome to the UC alumni community!
Behind each testamur lies a story of aspirations, inspiration, sacrifice and hard work – and our graduates have risen to meet every challenge with spirit, heart, creativity and courage.
We couldn’t be prouder of what they have achieved and the people they are today.
They now embark on a new chapter with the skills and knowledge gained, and the values embedded from their years of study and practice at UC.
Wherever they carve out their paths, we look forward to seeing what they’ll do next on a journey of lifelong learning.