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Investigating Gender Equity at the University of New South Wales
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Women are under-represented in senior
academic and management positions across the Australian university sector. In
2002, while women accounted for 29% of academic staff at the University of New
South Wales (UNSW), they constituted only 14% of Associate Professors and 11% of
Professors.
The University’s Equity and Diversity Unit commissioned Professor Belinda Probert from RMIT to investigate employment patterns for academic staff at UNSW and identify the reasons for the under-representation of women in academia.
The main findings of the Probert Report challenged a number of traditional
assumptions:
There was no evidence of systemic
discrimination, but there was considerable variation in local management
practices and cultures, which had a differential impact on gender equity.
Women academics had lower ‘human
capital’ than men: fewer women had a PhD upon commencement of academic
employment; men had, on average, five more years work experience in higher
education and women had, on average, lower productivity rates in publications
and successful grant applications.
While women were just as successful
as men overall, when they applied for promotions, men applied earlier and more
often.
Family responsibilities had a major
impact. Women academics’ careers tended to plateau at senior lecturer level,
with significant numbers of women in their forties finding their career
options closing down because of the cumulative effect of past and present
family responsibilities. The challenges of ‘teenage care’ and elder care,
rather than just baby care, emerged as a substantial demand on women’s time,
in an organisation where 66% of academic women, compared with 8 % of academic
men, identified themselves as primary carers.
In response to the report, the
University established the Gender Equity Project in 2002, to improve its
understanding of how gender operates at all levels within the organisation and
to explore mechanisms for better supporting gender equity in employment.
The Project implemented a range of initiatives, across three main areas.
Centrally administered initiatives
such as Women’s Promotion Workshops; Staff PhD Completion Scholarships for
academics who faced difficulties completing their doctorates for reasons such
as family responsibilities; a Career Advancement Fund to assist women
academics re-establish their research careers upon return from maternity
leave; an Academic Women in Leadership program in 2006; parking and childcare
initiatives and a Gender Equity Speaker Series.
Gender equity awareness integrated
into mainstream practices, such as examining the impact of gender in the
organisation’s review of the role of the Head of School; re-establishing the
women in research program and developing more effective recruitment search
processes to ensure that women are represented on short-lists.
Local level research and
strategies. In addition to some collaborative research projects with schools
and faculties, the Equity and Diversity Unit established the UNSW Equity
Initiatives Grants program, which funded schools and faculties to undertake
research and develop initiatives to enhance student and staff gender equity at
the local level.
The following is a selection of the
range of projects which have been undertaken under this latter program:
The Network of Women (NOW) in the School of Material Sciences, connects undergraduate, postgraduate, academic women and women from the material sciences industry. The work has
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received national attention
and is creating important links with industry. There is already evidence of
improved confidence, and higher retention rates, among female postgraduate
students.
The School of Physics undertook a
detailed audit that revealed significant gender related differences in
academic profile and workload distribution in the School. The final report
contained a wide range of recommendations, developed through a very
consultative process within the School, which are being implemented. Some
early achievements include: the establishment a School–based Gender Equity
Committee, the success of several women in recent applications for SSP,
start-up research grants, and in gaining promotion.
The School of Biological, Earth and
Environmental Sciences Project has only one female academic staff member. Here
a ‘distinguished women scientists’ visitors program has provided role models
and mentors for post-graduate and postdoctoral women. Comments from young
women who attended include “Made my research career much more real and
attainable” and “I’ve always wanted to follow this career path, but I think
deep down I didn’t really think it was possible. After yesterday, I
believe that it is”.
The School of Civil and
Environmental Engineering Project has explored means of better attracting and
retaining female students. This is another school with only one female
academic. In addition, a joint project with the School of Mechanical and
Manufacturing Engineering has started an informal internal ‘Women in
Engineering’ network.
Following a meeting with the five Equity Initiative Grant recipients in the Faculty of Science, the Dean established the Dean’s Gender Equity Advisory Committee in April 2005 to advise the Faculty on gender equity matters and to further investigate gender equity across the Faculty.
The Grants also appear to be an important way of promoting understanding and generating change across the organisation through such things as:
increasing awareness of gender
issues for staff and managers at the local level;
establishing active networks and
communities of interest for women academics, especially important for those
working in more isolated, male-dominated areas;
increasing confidence among the
women involved in the projects ; and
generating interest in the Project in other areas across the University.
A colloquium on this Program was held
at the end of 2005 and a collection of papers from this seminar is currently
being prepared.
