Workplace Gender Strategy
Our Commitment
Our focus on gender equity spans more than three decades, beginning with the formal appointment of our first Equal Opportunity Coordinator in 1987. This long history of the University’s unwavering support for advancing gender equality has led to the development of many best practice policies and programs that have helped to position us as a leading Employer of Choice for Gender Equality in Australia.
Notwithstanding our progress to date, we recognise that a lot more must be done. Gender imbalance continues to persist in leadership, in senior academic roles and in certain areas of the University where women’s participation has been historically low. To achieve positive change, we are taking proactive steps to address systemic and cultural barriers to women’s under-representation. We also must recognise intersectionality of attributes such as gender, age, cultural background, sexual orientation and/or disability.
Our Priorities
Recruitment
Our longstanding commitment to fair and inclusive recruitment practices is critical to ensuring progress towards our ambitious gender equality goals and to fostering diversity and inclusion at Monash.
Monash University’s Strategic Plan, Impact 2030 sets a strong commitment to “engage with and recruit students and staff, irrespective of any protected personal characteristic, including gender, sexuality, disability, ethnicity, race, religion or socio-economic disadvantage, to build a community that represents the diversity of our communities.”
Career progression
Our commitment to developing and retaining the talents of our staff is underpinned by a culture of continuous learning and growth and the University’s motto, Ancora Imparo (“I’m still learning”). Monash seeks to provide an environment where academic and professional staff will thrive, respond to and support our ambition to be Excellent, International, Enterprising and Inclusive.
We take proactive steps in removing the barriers to career development, addressing gender bias in decision-making, improving access to staff development and providing a range of diversity and inclusion training.
Gender composition at all levels of our workforce
We value the strength of staff diversity and take proactive measures to achieve gender-balanced and gender diverse leadership. We closely monitor the gender composition of our workforce, influential committees and our governing body, and aspire to achieve gender parity in senior professorial, senior academic and senior professional roles.
In addition to our objective to increase the participation of women in leadership roles, we seek to lift the visibility of women in decision-making roles who are from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, are Indigenous, LGBTIQA+ or have disability.
Gendered work segregation
We are committed to addressing gendered work segregation evidenced by women’s under-representation in STEMM fields, and to removing barriers to career advancement and success that are based on sex, gender and other forms of intersectional discrimination.
The attraction and retention of women in STEMM remains a challenge, with multi-faceted structural and cultural barriers cited as leading causes of women’s ongoing under- representation in STEMM careers. Advancing women’s careers in STEMM is at the forefront of our gender equity strategy and we are investing resources to address gender disparities in these areas. Our participation in the Athena SWAN program is assisting us in the recruitment, retention and development of our talent.
Workplace support, leave and work flexibility
Workplace flexibility is a key enabler of gender equality, and a foundation in the attraction and retention of talent. Monash’s ambitions to address the challenges of the age begins with our commitment to supporting our workforce to thrive as they contribute to excellent and transformative education and research.
We’re committed to fostering a workplace culture of flexibility where staff of all genders, ethnicities, faiths, heritages, abilities, religious and cultural backgrounds are supported to successfully combine their work commitments and personal priorities.
Workplace culture, leadership and diversity
Our commitment to fostering an inclusive workplace begins with our commitment to a University community that recognises, respects and includes Indigenous peoples, cultures and knowledge by working with and celebrating Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as well as Indigenous peoples of other places where Monash has a campus or major presence.
Our evolving and enduring commitment to promoting an inclusive workplace culture and advancing gender equality has seen us pioneer a number of flagship programs and embed our diversity and inclusion agenda into the organisational strategic goals. Impact 2030 further commits us to building a diverse and connected community of students, staff and alumni who are deeply engaged with the wider community and supporting the dissemination of University knowledge and practice.
We welcome your thoughts on measures and interventions to help us accelerate progress towards gender parity via our anonymous feedback form.