Athena SWAN in Action
Monash University Athena SWAN Action Plan 2018-2021
Our four year action plan describes a wide range of gender equity activities we are committed to undertake. All actions are grouped into key themes, including Institutional Governance, Recruitment and Selection, Employment and Retention, Career Progression and Promotion, Flexible Working and Career Breaks, Organisation and Culture, Fostering Diversity and Inclusion.
Read a summary of the Monash University Athena SWAN Action Plan 2018-2021.
Implementing actions
Members of Athena SWAN Committee are working closely with key stakeholders across the University, including Monash HR and academic staff in STEMM on the implementation of our Athena SWAN Action Plan. Below are examples of selected action items we tackled since achieving the Bronze award.
- By adopting gender neutral language and utilising ‘gender decoder’ when creating job ads, we are improving academic job advertisements to better appeal to women.
- We have revised our training for hiring managers to ensure it addresses unconscious bias in recruitment practices
- We have implemented a systematic way of recording gender composition of selection panels
- We improved ‘Assessing Achievement Relative to Opportunity’ guidelines to explain the range of professional and personal circumstances that can impact on academic career success.
- We hosted two inaugural sessions on ‘Assessing Achievement Relative to Opportunity’ to guide promotion candidates in completing this section of their application and to improve the perception of transparency and fairness in academic promotion more broadly.
- Our Academic Promotion policy now requires that promotion committee chairs are trained on unconscious bias (Inclusive Leadership).
- We have developed a range of resources (website, articles, parents guide) to better promote information on the many proactive ways Monash University is supporting staff who are parents and carers.
- We have successfully rolled out training on unconscious bias (Inclusive Leadership) and achieved a significant uptake among academic staff in all STEMM faculties.
- We participated in the Australian Workplace Equality Index to assess our performance against a national benchmark in LGBTIQ inclusion (2017, 2018, 2019).
- We introduced Diversity and Inclusion category within our staff development portal.
- We established 'STEMM Women Academic Network.'
- We repeated our Staff Equity and Diversity Survey, first administered in 2017
- We launched the Panel Pledge campaign
In the news
- Monash announces ambitious target to reduce gender pay gap
- Monash achieves Athena SWAN Bronze Award
- Monash University recognised for stride in gender equality
- Dare to (job) share
- Finding balance: one dad’s story
- Athena SWAN is making a positive impact on gender equity
- Our 30 year gender equity journey
Governance Structure
We have a robust governance structure in place that facilitates collaborative oversight of gender equity in STEMM and drives implementation of best practice across Monash. The Athena SWAN Committee reports to the Diversity and Inclusion Committee that is co-chaired by the Vice-Chancellor. All STEMM faculties at Monash but one now have a gender equity/equity and diversity committee charged with the oversight and implementation of gender equity goals at a local level. Deparmental commitees are also in place across larger faculties, including the Faculty of Science and Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences.