Equity, Diversity and Inclusion in the Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences
Monash Parkville campus has a very diverse student and staff cohort.
With a new Associate Dean, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion appointed in 2023, the Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences has renewed its commitment to EDI and many different initiatives are underway. From EDI week on campus, to diversity in clinical trials, we look at why it matters.
Diversity integral to the student experience
For faculty Student Experience Coordinator Alastair Thomas, equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) is not just about helping students navigate the academic environment but ensuring they have the tools to succeed in their future careers.
“Our pharmacy students will be on the frontline of healthcare, engaging with a wide variety of people from diverse backgrounds,” he says.
“And from a pharmaceutical science perspective, our students will soon be working in industry or research collaborating with teams from across the globe. So, it’s important for our students to understand diversity.”
Alastair is also secretary of the faculty’s Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Committee and part of a campus-wide collaboration of students, academics and other stakeholders that coordinates a calendar of EDI events.
The largest of these is EDI Week, held in the second semester, which involves multiple workshops, panels, educational, social and cultural activities.
During EDI Week in 2022, Monash launched an ambitious new framework to guide the university’s EDI practice over the next eight years.
It embraces a whole-of-institution approach where every member of the Monash community plays a role in creating a safe, supportive and welcoming university.
“Parkville is a small campus that really values community,” says Alastair. “You can’t have that without equity, diversity and inclusion. Our students’ learning and social experience is enriched when they are comfortable and supported to be themselves.”
A range of EDI initiatives
L-R: Alastair Thomas, Dr Amy Chen, Dr Amandeep Kaur, Associate Professor Natalie Trevaskis.
This culture of inclusion has prompted some academics and students to begin their own EDI initiatives.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, faculty academics Dr Betty Exintaris, Dr Nilushi Karunaratne and Dr Suzanne Caliph started the Parkville International and Exchange Students program (PIES) to connect with international students stranded overseas.
In March this year, Marketing and Communications Coordinator Dr Amy Chen and faculty lecturer and Lab Head Dr Amandeep Kaur and a few others formed the Multicultural Outreach and Support for Advancement, Inclusion and Community, or MOSAIC.
It holds monthly meetings where staff and higher degree research students from culturally and racially marginalised backgrounds can share their experiences of racism and bias.
“The idea came to me when I joined a national mentoring program for women of colour,” Amy says. “I was astounded that when we came to share our lived experience, every woman was nodding their head because we could all relate to what was being said”.
Amandeep adds: “We also noticed from HR data that when you look at the higher ranks of the professional staff in our faculty, there’s a huge drop-off in people from non-white backgrounds. I suspect the picture is the same across other faculties.”
In a few months, MOSAIC has grown to 25 members, including some students and allies, and has been added to the faculty’s EDI Committee.
As co-chairs, Amy and Amandeep have also met with Monash’s director of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, Fiona Marshall, in the hope that MOSAIC can be expanded beyond the faculty.
MOSAIC has a top down/bottom up approach, building community from the grass roots while empowering leaders and senior management to become effective allies.
A spotlight on gender diversity
Her Research Matters is another grassroots collective, set up in 2019 to celebrate the work of women researchers within the faculty.
Associate Professor Natalie Trevaskis, from the Drug Delivery, Disposition and Dynamics theme at Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences (MIPS), who co-chairs Her Research Matters, says there are now around 150 members, ranging from PhD candidates right up to professors.
“It’s created a network, where we can reach out to each other, support each other and lift each other up,” she says.
Her Research Matters has gained international traction, asked to present to organisations such as the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy, and won the Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Diversity and Inclusion in 2021.
Natalie says perhaps the greatest achievement lies in the increased female representation that has been achieved across all professional levels of the faculty in the past four years.
“Previously, we had about 50/50 male/female representation for the early career scientists at Level A but only 17% of Professors at Level E were women,” she says. “Now it’s pretty equal up to Level D for Associate Professors – and Level E is getting pretty close as well.
“I think when women can see other women getting those promotions, it shows what can be achieved and encourages them to apply as well.”
Another Her Research Matters success story is the incorporation of evidence of quality leadership and mentorship into the faculty research performance standards.
“It means that in addition to grants and publications and other performance metrics, you have to make sure that your students and your staff within your lab have a good experience,” Natalie says.
Profiling diversity in Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Science
Monash has a very diverse student and staff cohort, who bring different insights and perspectives to our campus and their work in the Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences. Read some of their stories below.
