Monash awarded cygnet for achievement in academic promotion

Monash wins SAGE Cygnet Award

Monash University has been awarded a coveted Science in Australia Gender Equity (SAGE) Cygnet Award for improving equity in academic promotions, becoming the first Group of Eight university to win the award.

In the higher education sector, women are underrepresented at Associate Professor and Professor levels. Women are also three times more likely to work part-time than men, and are more likely to experience longer career interruptions associated with caregiving responsibilities.

SAGE presented Monash with the Cygnet Award, announced on 14 September 2023, for the University’s work over the past five years to lift the understanding of the University’s Achievement Relative to Opportunity Framework (ARTO) for promotion applicants and decision-makers.

This framework is a key enabler that facilitates more fair and equitable assessment of career progression and achievements given the opportunities available to staff. It helps to ensure that the overall quality and impact of achievements is given more weight than the quantity, rate or breadth of particular achievements relative to a person’s personal, professional and other circumstances.

‘More than just our metrics’

Cancer immunologist Anne Fletcher was promoted to Associate Professor at Monash University in July 2023 and was encouraged to disclose relevant circumstances in her application for the promotion. “We’re more than just our metrics. There is a story behind the numbers for everyone,” Associate Professor Fletcher said.

In addition to running a lab and leading a team researching new drugs to make immunotherapies for cancer more effective, Associate Professor Fletcher is the mother of three sons aged 9, 7 and 2. She took three career breaks after having her children, worked part-time for a short period, and had additional caring and home-schooling responsibilities during the lockdowns in Victoria in 2020 and 2021, while her partner worked shifts as an essential worker.

Cygnet Award recognises years of work

Monash University Interim President and Vice-Chancellor Professor Susan Elliott AM said the Cygnet Award was the result of multiple years of targeted initiatives.

“Monash is committed to achieving a lasting transformative change across all facets of gender equity, diversity and inclusion. This award recognises the proactive steps we have already taken to dismantle systemic and cultural barriers to women’s representation.”

Associate Professor Laura Jobson, Chair of Monash's Athena SWAN Steering Group, said  “We’ve seen real change since the measures were introduced. Applicants of all genders are now opting to include the relevant circumstances in their applications.

“From 2020 onward, promotion success rates also improved for candidates who included relevant circumstances in their applications. And we’ve seen an improved application and success rate for applicants working part-time,” she said.

SAGE CEO Janin Bredehoeft congratulated Monash on their achievement, "SAGE is delighted to offer this Cygnet Award in recognition of Monash's work towards more equitable promotions processes. The changes they have introduced allow their promotion panels to see and consider the whole person, and recognise the achievements they have made in the context of their lives. It's an important shift."

Universities and tertiary institutions must already have achieved a Athena SWAN  Bronze Status to apply for Cygnet Awards, and once they achieve five Cygnet Awards they are eligible for Silver Status. Only four other universities in Australia have been awarded a Cygnet Award before Monash University: Edith Cowan University, Griffith University, The University of Newcastle University and RMIT University.