Gender equity in Australian universities:

1
Gender equity in Australian universities the
AVCC Action Plan for Women Professor Hilary
Winchester
2
The Second AVCC Action Plan for Women Employed in
Australian Universities 2006 - 2010
3
AVCC Action Plan for Women

• 1. Australian Vice-Chancellors Committee Action
  Plan for Women Employed in Australian
  Universities
• 1999 - 2003
• 2. The Second AVCC Action Plan for Women Employed
  in Australian Universities 2006 - 2010

4
AVCC Action Plan for Women 1999 2003

• Origins of the first Action Plan
• ACADEMIC WOMEN'S FORUM
• Univ. of Adelaide AWF AWF Coordinator
  Report to the AVCC byAnne Edwards, Margaret
  Gardner andEleanor Ramsay
• On Saturday 1 August, Anne Edwards, Margaret
  Gardner and Eleanor Ramsay made a presentation to
  the AVCC about the position of women in
  Australian universities and some suggestions for
  responses at a sectoral level.

1998
5
AVCC Action Plan for Women 1999 -2003

• Origins of the first Action Plan
• 3 of their RECOMMENDATIONS
• 1. Provide clear leadership across the sector
  which communicates recognition that the under
  representation of women at more senior levels of
  higher education at the institutional and sector
  level is a matter of serious concern
• Adopt an action plan targetting specific
  improvements in this situation, to be evaluated
  and reviewed in an ongoing and rigorous process
  for the next five years
• 3. Sponsor more detailed research to identify
  the particular factors affecting women's
  employment outcomes over time, and between
  different academic and general staff areas. This
  research would be beneficial to all universities
  in developing appropriate policy responses.

1998
6
AVCC Action Plan for Women 1999 - 2003
Recommendations became actions in the first AVCC
Action Plan
1999

• The AVCC will
• take a leadership role
• B. publish this action plan
• In pursuing the objectives will continue to
  consult with the Colloquium of Senior Women
  Executives in Higher Education (the Colloquium)
• develop a policy statement
• collate base line quantitative data on the
  position of women employed in higher education
• recommend that all universities include gender
  equity performance measures in institutional
  plans and quality assurance processes

7
AVCC Action Plan for Women

• Implementation
• of
• the
• plans

AVCC Individual universities Aust
ralian Colloquium of Senior Women Executives in
Higher Education
8
AVCC Action Plan for Women 1999 - 2003
2002
women's participation as students ... well
represented ... efforts have not yet achieved
gender equity for staff to the extent or at the
rate expected ...
... the extent of cultural change required to
achieve gender equity, including changes to
values and expectations, has been slow
9
AVCC Action Plan for Women 1999 2003

• Performance Measures
• The percentage of women staff at level D and
  above by gender
• The ratio of the percentage of academic staff at
  level D and above who are women to the
  corresponding percentage of all academic staff
  who are women
• Target progress the female ratio to 11
• faster than 1994-1997 trend
• Number of universities with gender ratio targets
• Target all universities to have EEO
  targets and KPIs to monitor performance

10
AVCC Action Plan for Women 1999 - 2003
2004

• Academic staff

11
AVCC Action Plan for Women 1999 2003 Academic
staff
2004
12
AVCC Action Plan for Women 1999 2003Individual
universities
2004

• Advancing the AVCC Action Plan for Women
  Cross-Institution comparisons based on 2004 DEST
  data, QUT, May 2005Variation between 30-50
  couple of outliers

13
AVCC Action Plan for women
2004

• General staff

14
AVCC Action Plan for Women 1999 2003
2004

• Some results shown in the national data
• Women are close to gender parity at Levels A and
  B
• Women are increasing most rapidly at Level C
• Women are still severely under-represented at
  Levels D and E
• The barrier for women is moving from Level C to D
• General staff women at Level 10 are less than 50

15
AVCC Action Plan for Women 1999 2003

• Some of the issues
• Academic merit
• Uninterrupted career path
• Research/promotion nexus
• Overseas experience
• Teaching focus
• Career paths
• Late starts
• Breaks
• Part-time
• Culture and structure
• Management experience
• Service criteria opportunity

16
AVCC Action Plan for Women 1999 - 2003
Without the Action Plan and the Statement on
Gender Equity would we have accomplished these
changes?
17
AVCC Action Plan for women 1999 - 2003
Have we achieved enough?
despite recent gains ... gender differences
remain.
18
AVCC Action Plan for Women 1999 - 2003
2006

• Do we still need an Action Plan?

Campus Review Vol 16, No. 03 25 January, 2006
19
AVCC Action Plan for Women 1999 - 2003
20
AVCC Action plan for women 1999 - 2003
2006
21
The Second AVCC Action Plan for Women Employed in
Australian Universities 2006 - 2010

• How was it developed?
• a notice in September 2005 to Colloquium and
  organisations of university equity practitioners
  about the process
• a short report card on achievements of the first
  Action Plan was prepared for the AVCC
• a discussion paper, distributed widely in October
  2005, that included a preliminary draft Action
  Plan and 10 key questions
• submissions and comments received from 18
  individuals/groups/universities up to November 4,
  2005
• presentation and discussion of the preliminary
  draft and submissions at the Annual Meeting of
  the Colloquium in November 2006, attended by 26
  members of the Colloquium, including five Vice
  Chancellors and the AVCC
• revision of the preliminary draft
• 'The Second AVCC Action Plan for Women Employed
  in Australian Universities 2006 2010' presented
  to the February meeting of the Board of the AVCC
  and recommended by the Board to the March AVCC
  Plenary meeting

22
The Second AVCC Action Plan for Women Employed in
Australian Universities 2006 - 2010

• How it differs from the First Action Plan
• runs for 5 years instead of 4 years
• includes a 'Statement of Commitment '
• focuses on critical points
• Level E
• Level D
• Level 10
• monitors data in new areas
• PhD completions by gender and discipline
• academic levels by discipline
• emphasises productivity, diversity, societal
  relevance rather than just deficits
• provides financial support for implementation of
  the plan and for significant research

23
The Second AVCC Action Plan for Women Employed in
Australian Universities 2006 - 2010
24
The Second AVCC Action Plan for Women Employed in
Australian Universities 2006 - 2010

• Target
• Level E women from 16 to 25 by 2010
• Level D women from 24 to 35 by 2010
• Level 10 women from 41 to 50 by 2010
• Increase women with PhDs
• Increase women in senior leadership positions as
  deans, directors, senior managers
• Measure
• Gender ratios in enrolment and completion of
  PhDs by discipline
• Gender ratios for all academic levels by
  discipline

25
The Second AVCC Action Plan for Women Employed in
Australian Universities 2006 - 2010

• 5 priority goals
• To continue to encourage all universities to
  integrate equity strategies and performance
  indicators into their institutional plans and to
  support the priorities in this Plan
• To improve significantly the representation of
  women in senior roles by encouraging equity
  initiatives in critical areas
• To monitor the patterns of entry of women into
  academia and respond to barriers to sustained
  entry
• To improve the monitoring of gender equity in
  workforce data and access to information
• To identify, and engage universities with,
  critical matters through research on gender
  equity issues and dissemination of good practice.
  This will include
• women in research and the impact of the Research
  Quality Framework (RQF)
• conditions of university employment policy and
  practice that impact on women and the attainment
  of gender equity
• identification of barriers to participation and
  leadership.

26
The Second AVCC Action Plan for Women Employed in
Australian Universities 2006 - 2010

• Critical activities
• 2006 - 2010
• AVCC leadership
• Monitor, measure, report
• Research
• Develop
• Support
• Publicise

27
The Second AVCC Action Plan for Women Employed in
Australian Universities 2006 - 2010

• Research ideas presented to the AVCC
• How do complex/multi-faceted organisations
  achieve whole-of-organisation change to promote a
  gender inclusive culture?
• Are there persistent/cultural barriers to women
  achieving seniority in universities?
• What is the impact of non-traditional career
  paths in universities and is the sector moving
  towards work intensification that will further
  limit womens potential? How important are
  family friendly and work life balance policies
  and practice in ensuring womens attraction,
  participation and retention in the tertiary
  sector?
• Will the RQF impact differentially on women and
  men in the sector?
• Establishment of a framework for institutional
  monitoring of AWAs as they are progressively
  introduced, preparatory to assessing their
  impact.

28
The Second AVCC Action Plan for Women Employed in
Australian Universities 2006 - 2010
http//www.avcc.edu.au/content.asp?page/policies_
programs/women/index.htm
29
The Second AVCC Action Plan for Women Employed in
Australian Universities 2006 - 2010
Campus Review, Vol 16, No 03, January 25, 2006