1210 – 1240 CULTURAL CHANGE IN THE WORKPLACE: NOTHING LESS WILL DO
Gender equality has for too long been viewed as a women’ s issue dependant on female advocacy and framed within traditional male-dominated paradigms. Gender equality is an essential requirement for building Australia as a competitive 21st century economy with the beneficiaries being Australian business and industry and, ultimately, all Australians. A change to workplace culture is needed that views gender equality through this lens.
Professor Jan Thomas | Vice Chancellor and President | USQ
Before taking up her current position in January 2012, Jan was Deputy Vice-Chancellor at Murdoch University from 2003 – 10 and Deputy Vice-Chancellor at the University of Notre Dame, Australia, from 2010. She now holds the position of Chair for the Managing Council of the Association of Commonwealth Universities. She is also the Chair for the Regional Universities Network. She was appointed Chairperson of the State Library Board of Queensland in March 2014.
1240 – 1310 DESIRING DIFFERENCE: WHAT DOES THIS REALLY MEAN?
Australia’ s First Nations peoples are being sought out by the academy in increasing numbers, with many Universities having employment targets that seek to engage with Indigenous Australians across the gamut of roles that are undertaken in large organisations that are universities. Being appointed is one thing, being promoted is an entirely different kettle of fish. How do you measure‘ difference’ within a metric that seeks to promote on the‘ same’, yet the initial appointment was based on the‘ different’. Does this approach fully recognise and appreciate the very reason that institutions when seeking to employ Indigenous Australians use as the first essential criteria: Identify as an Indigenous Australian … yet are challenged within their own systems to promote difference.
1310 – 1340 LUNCH
Dr Faye McMillan | Director of the Djirruwang program | Charles Sturt University
Dr Faye McMillan is a Wiradjuri yinaa( woman) from Trangie, NSW. Faye is the current Chair of Indigenous Allied Health Australia and works at Charles Sturt University as the Director of the Djirruwang Program. She is Australia’ s first registered Aboriginal pharmacist. In 2014, she was recognised as one of The Australian Financial Review Westpac 100 Women of Influence. Her research interests are nation building and Indigenous women in leadership roles; her doctorate focused these two areas of research into her thesis. She is also the proud mother to Kye and Ethan, as well as a daughter, granddaughter, sister, aunt and friend. Faye seeks to share her experience with others, in the hope that it could make a difference and to appreciate the transformative opportunities that education can provide.
1340 – 1410 WHY AREN’ T THERE MORE WOMEN IN SENIOR ROLES IN HIGHER EDUCATION?
Higher education institutions are typically run by men. The increasing number of female graduates across Australia each year does not lead to relatively more women in senior academic positions because patriarchal systems maintain themselves. Common problems in male-run organisations are a lack of understanding of male / female differences and cognitive bias against women. An understanding of relevant gender issues combined with mitigation of gender bias( both unconscious and conscious) in decision-making leads to best practice in recruitment and promotion practices.
Dr Mark Toner | Chair | Gender Equity Working Group of the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering and Consultant at Gender Matters
Mark is a former chief executive of Kvaerner( now Jacobs) E & C Australia. He has a background in engineering, science and IT, is a company director and a management consultant. He’ s a fellow of various engineering institutions and of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. He has also made numerous presentations around the country on the problems women encounter in engineering and business. Mark is chair of the Gender Equity Working Group of the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering, which is one of the two academies running the Athena SWAN SAGE Pilot in Australia. He is a gender consultant at Gender Matters and one of his areas of specialty is cognitive bias- unconscious and conscious.
CAMPUSREVIEW. COM. AU / HIGHER-EQUITY-SUMMIT 5