NEWS
campusreview.com.au
Cynicism
threatens
gender equity
campaigns
Actions must back up words
or staff will tune out VCs’
rhetoric, studies find.
R
esearch suggests staff cynicism about
vice-chancellors’ pushes for gender
equity could perpetuate inequity.
Professor Isabel Metz, from the University
of Melbourne’s Melbourne Business School,
has gone into businesses and examined
executives’ attitudes towards gender equity.
She found many leaders were reluctant to
speak publicly about the subject – even
though they may support it, and be working
towards it – because their employees are
unsatisfied with the pace of change.
“Cynicism is something that can spread
very quickly,” Metz explained. “It’s like fire
in a very dry land. Once people are cynical
MATRIX = maths hub
The first MATRIX program was held at the University of Melbourne’s Creswick campus. Picture: Jan de Gier
Joint research site for Monash,
UniMelb to gather best from
Australia and the world.
S
ome of the greatest minds in the world
of mathematics will soon regularly set
foot on local shores to gather, discuss,
propose and expound new ideas, thanks
to a partnership between the University of
Melbourne and Monash University.
MATRIX is billed as a “research retreat” for
mathematicians. It’s a new mathematics
and statistics hub and the first of its kind
in Australia. It will host secluded camps
where some of the world’s sharpest minds
will meet to collaborate on complex
mathematics. A broad spectrum of research
will take place, mathematician and MATRIX
director professor Jan de Gier said.
“We just had a program on very abstract
structures … [and] there is an upcoming
about an initiative or about what their CEOs
are saying but not doing, it’s very difficult to
reverse that. There’s a real danger that if the
backlash grows, it will hinder this belief that
gender diversity is good for the organisation.”
Metz added that this applies to universities.
She said it occurs when a vice-chancellor
starts to talk about gender inequity a lot but
“five years later, nothing is done”.
“Higher education institutions are very
good at window-dressing,” Metz said. ”We
have lots of literature showing that, not
just in Australia, but overseas as well, even
organisations that have a lawsuit based on
sexual harassment or gender discrimination
against them window-dress after the lawsuit.
They have very nice policy statements on
their websites. They have a whole range of
really good practices, but those practices are
not readily available or implemented.”
University of Sydney vice-chancellor Dr
Michael Spence said actions are far more
important than words when it comes to
gender equity. USYD now has 31 per cent
of its Level E positions – the most senior
roles – filled by women, up from 28 per
cent last year.
“We’ve been talking about gender
equality for a long time, but these results
demonstrate the impact of action over
words,” Spence said. ■
workshop about optimisation. Next year,
there’ll be programs in biomathematics,” de
Gier explained.
Although UniMelb and Monash have
traditionally been seen as rivals – both
with internationally renowned research –
the collaboration should prove to be the
catalyst for the creation of even bolder
ideas by attracting high-calibre talent from
around the globe to intermingle with bright
local minds.
“Mathematical sciences are critical to
national prosperity,” de Gier said. “Through
this new institute, Australian researchers
will be able to more actively engage with
the international scientific community.” The
implications for such an establishment were
two-fold, he asserted.
“Whilst we are aiming to facilitate
problem-solving collaborations between
academia and industry, we would like to
think the research conducted at MATRIX
can have applications everywhere,” he said.
Such applications could include online
banking, wifi technology and GPS.
The institute will be based on successful
models in Europe and America, including
the Mathematical Sciences Research
Institute in Berkeley, California, and the
Oberwolfach Research Institute for
Mathematics in Germany. ■
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