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Unequal opportunity
Reflections on sexism in Australian universities .
By Wade Zaglas
Well-known and respected academic Professor Marcia Devlin draws attention in a recent article to a subject that appears to be languishing in academia .
Published last month in Academic Letters , Devlin quickly establishes some disappointing statistics relating to the number of men working in high-level academic roles vis-a-vis their female counterparts . Firstly , she states that “ women dominate the lower levels of academia in Australia , with more women than men as associate lecturers ( Level A ) and lecturers ( Level B )”.
However , in sharp contrast , Devlin also illuminates that the upper roles of academia are typically taken by men , with more men than women occupying higher , more prestigious roles including “ senior lecturers ( Level C ), associate professors ( Level D ) and professors ( Level E )”.
In her piece , Devin discusses a fact that may be a hard pill to swallow for the swathe of established and up-and-coming women researchers and academics .
“ Many female Australian academics assume that by working hard and being good academic citizens , success will follow ,” she says . “ This is an erroneous assumption – the data does not lie .” The fact speaks for itself and highlights an issue that needs to be addressed if diverse experiences , creativity and new ways of thinking are going to provide the solutions for the future . In 2019 , for example , Devlin found that there were : ∞ seven per cent more women at Level A ∞ 10 per cent more women at Level B ∞ five per cent more men at Level C , and ∞ 30 per cent more men at Levels D and E ( reported together in Australia ). After clarifying the academic level inequalities , Devlin shifts her focus to the vice-chancellors . “ At the time I am writing in late 2020 , of Australia ’ s 37 public university vice-chancellors , 10 are women ( 27 per cent ) and 27 are men ( 73 per cent ). That ’ s right – around three-quarters of the top jobs in Australia are held by men ,” Devlin lamented .
During 2020 with its attendant appointments and resignations of vice-chancellors , Devlin asserts that “ women had been appointed vice-chancellor in just four of the 15 interim or ongoing replacements made during 2020 ( 27 per cent women )”.
“ Of these , two of the women moved from one vice-chancellor position to another . In 11 of the 15 vice-chancellor recruitment processes – that is , in 73 per cent of cases – a man won the role ,” she concluded .
However , it ’ s not all doom and gloom for Devlin . For instance , in 2016 , an organisation called WomenCount provided a similar tally of female chancellors in Australian universities .
Back then , only 15 per cent of Australian universities could boast of having a female vice-chancellor .
“ While a move from 15 to 27 percent female chancellors is positive , females still only make up around one quarter of the people in these increasingly powerful and important roles ,” Devlin says .
WHY IS THIS THE CASE ? While it might be true that many female academics take time off to have and raise families , their actual absence from the workplace is only for a relatively short period of time , while in other cases women don ’ t have children . But despite these facts , women as a cohort never catch up to men in Australian universities .
“ Gender inequity comes about , at least in part , because there are sexist views about women ’ s role in society . Women are often expected to carry the heaviest loads in domestic spheres ,” Devlin contends .
Gender inequity comes about because there are sexist views about women ’ s role in society .
“ This results in them having less time and energy for the attention and work required in academic advancement . In addition , expectations that women do housework carries into the workplace .”
Another key issue that results in the majority of men being appointed to the more plum roles is directly related to childhood .
“ It ’ s a common theme among those who have had children that , when they return from maternity leave , they quickly ‘ fall behind ’. The gap in employment during the leave , sometimes coupled with the part-time status immediately afterwards , often means women lose traction with research and publishing ,” Devlin explains .
“ This loss of traction can be cumulative if they take more than one period of maternity leave and if they stay in a part-time capacity for a period of time . But universities don ’ t help them . In fact , universities make things more difficult .”
Devlin concludes by noting that Australian universities do recognise the problem and are trying to address the issues .
“ But after many years of chairing and serving on academic promotion committees , I can see that , despite much good will and many good people doing their best , university systems of reward and recognition – and therefore , advancement – continue to favour men ’ s relatively uninterrupted and neat career trajectories , relatively greater freedom to engage in research and publishing , more easily quantified outputs and more frequent leadership opportunities .” ■
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