Professor Michaela Rankin,
Deputy Dean (International and Accrediation)

As the Deputy Dean International and Accreditation, part of my work involves ensuring the activities of Monash Business School supports the objectives of the United Nations Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME).

This is a commitment made by business schools globally to develop and support the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The objectives of PRME and our commitments to the SDGs are integral to how the Business School sees International Women’s Day - and in particular how we meet SDG 5 – gender equality.

As a globally ranked Business School with alumni around the world, we have an important role in contributing to that goal through our research and education.

Recently we were delighted to welcome the second cohort of the multiple-award winning Master of Indigenous Business Leadership ( MoIBL), this year comprising 80 per cent women.

The role of education in closing the health gap between indigenous and non-indigenous Australians can’t be overstated – along with income and employment, it is one of the key determinants of positive outcomes.

While the rate at which Indigenous adults complete higher education courses has increased from 38 to 67 per 10,000 between 2001 and 2018–19, Indigenous participation remains significantly lower than non-indigenous Australians.

Watching the female participants of the MoIBL gather in their first week made me feel intensely proud that my organisation is nurturing strong, proud women who are active in their communities, building successful businesses or contributing to public policy.

Women are leading the way.

Monash Business School is also tackling issues that uniquely affect women through our research, such as understanding how subconscious gender bias affects leadership selection and promotion; the gender wage gap; and discrimination faced by pregnant women; to name just a few projects.

Our researchers have investigated global issues such as female under-representation in Indian politics, and have helped companies tackle modern slavery in supply chains (an issue that disproportionately impacts female workers).

And we’re among an interdisciplinary team of researchers from across the university sector aiming to pioneer transformative research into the elimination of violence against women.

However, as we celebrate International Women's Day 2023, there is still much more to be done.

Women are still woefully underrepresented on company boards and the gender pay gap favouring men exists across every industry sector, according to a scorecard from Workplace Gender Equality in Australia (WGEA) released in December last year. More concerning, the gender pay gap has increased in eight industries.

It’s been demonstrated that many women’s positions became more tenuous during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The work to #EmbraceEquity is never done. But I am proud to work for an organisation which makes positive efforts towards it.