Diversity and Inclusion

As part of UQ’s Bronze Institutional Award accreditation, we must implement a 36-point gender action plan between 2019 and 2024.

Note: due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on University activity, SAGE has awarded all participating institutions a 12-month extension to implement their plans. 

A Gender Steering Committee (GSC) is overseeing this action plan implementation.

View the action plan

UQ’s Gender Steering Committee was formed to implement our SAGE Athena SWAN Action Plan as we progress towards Silver accreditation.

The GSC champions strategic and transparent governance, accountability, planning and a reporting framework for gender equity, which reflects UQ’s commitment to broader diversity and inclusion.

The GSC comprises representatives from across UQ, including staff (academic and professional) and students, who bring diverse experience from different roles, career stages, work arrangements, and personal backgrounds.

The GSC aims to reflect the diversity of our UQ community, and represents a gender balance of 43%.

UQ staff and students can access the following information:

GSC Terms of Reference GSC definition of STEMM

Many high-profile conferences, events, task forces and media outlets lack gender balance, despite there often being no shortage of qualified women to contribute.

To help address this, the Panel Pledge initiative encourages academics and professionals to commit to requesting gender equity as a condition of participation on any panel or conference.

The concept was originally developed through a partnership between Women’s Leadership Institute Australia, Male Champions of Change and Chief Executive Women.

At UQ, we have tailored this to create an initiative known as The Merle Pledge.

The Merle Pledge is an effort to substantially improve women’s representation in public and professional forums.

We encourage academics and professional staff from all backgrounds and genders to take the pledge, and join the worldwide movement to advance gender equity in academia and other occupations.

Take the pledge – UQ staff  Take the pledge – non-UQ 

The Women Finding Success podcast is an initiative of the SAGE Athena SWAN Project at The University of Queensland (UQ) in Brisbane, Australia.

Each episode of the series features inspiring interviews from women who have found success in academic and professional roles at UQ. These women are resilient, smart, proactive, and, more importantly, they’re now working together to implement systemic changes to the University’s culture.

Their goal is to make career progression in all fields more achievable for women.

Listen in weekly to be inspired to break down barriers and challenge expectations.

The series will launch on 8 March 2021 – International Women’s Day – as a timely celebration and reminder of the amazing things women can achieve.

This podcast is produced by UQ Library’s Scholarly Soup podcast team.

More Info

UQ value and are committed to the diversity of gender, sex, and sexuality among our staff, as demonstrated in the UQ Strategic Plan.

Our initiatives include:

• the UQ Ally Network
• educating staff on gender, sex and sexuality diversity inclusion through Ally workshops and other resources to create a well-informed and inclusive UQ community
• policies that use a definition of partner and families that is inclusive of same-sex partnerships and family units
• policies, informed by legislation, that demonstrate UQ’s strong commitment to removing any barriers that LGBTIAQ+ community members may face
• support for gender affirmation/transition in the workplace
• events to celebrate and recognise national and international days of significance (PDF, 287.8 KB)
• gender-inclusive categories in HR systems.

Learn more about workplace diversity and inclusion at UQ

A number of research and resources are available to inform the development of evidence-based diversity and inclusion initiatives at UQ, QAAFI and in your organisational unit.

Reconciliation Action Plan

• UQ Reconciliation Action Plan
  As an inclusive UQ, we aspire to acknowledge that the participation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples – and inclusion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander knowledges and perspectives – in higher education is meaningful and important for all members of the UQ community.

SAGE and Athena SWAN resources UQ Reconciliation Action Plan 

• Science in Australia Gender Equity
  SAGE has developed a number of resources for Athena SWAN Charter members.
• Evaluating the effectiveness and impact of the Athena SWAN Charter
  An independent report into the impact of the Athena SWAN Charter (completed in 2013).
• Equality Challenge Unit resources
  The ECU, who developed the Athena SWAN Charter, provide a number of useful resources for developing and maintaining a diverse and inclusive workplace.
• AIBE Centre for Gender Equality in the Workplace – Employer of Choice for Gender Equality: Leading Practices in Strategy, Policy and Implementation

Women in STEM decadal plan

• Women in STEM Decadal Plan
  The Australian Academy of Science and the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering have come together to develop this 10-year roadmap for achieving sustained increases in the participation and retention of women in STEM, from school through to careers. This plan outlines six opportunities for Australia to achieve this goal.
• UQ's Women in STEM Decadal Plan
  Read UQ's response to the STEM Decadal Plan, which outlines how UQ will champion women in STEM now and into the future.

Academic career path

• Increasing diversity in prizes and awards
• "Women, Careers and Universities: Where to From Here"
  This research paper explores the gendered nature of employment, working conditions and career patterns of University staff, with emphasis on key points in the career life cycle.
• "Busting myths about Women in STEM"
  The Office of the Chief Scientist released this paper dispelling four persistent myths facing women in STEM.

Performance relative to opportunity

• ARC Research Opportunity and Performance Evidence (ROPE) Statement
  The Australian Research Council issued this statement in 2014 regarding their commitment to ensuring fair access to competitive funding by ensuring assessment processes evaluate quality rather than just volume or size of research contribution.
• "Career Progress relative to opportunity: how many papers is a baby 'worth'?"
  This research paper provides some insight into the application of the principle of performance relative to opportunity.

Business case for gender equity and leadership

• Queensland Women's Strategy 2016–2021 (2020 Report cards)
• Australian Government: STEM Equity Monitor 2021
• Gender Equity Insights 2020 Presentation: Delivering the Business Outcomes
• Measure for Measure: Gender diversity in Australia
• Diversity wins: How inclusion matters
• Analysing gender and institutional change in academia: evaluating the utility of feminist institutionalist approaches
• The Business Case for Gender Equality
  This Centre for Ethical Leadership research paper presents the business case for gender equity.
• It starts with us – The Leadership Shadow
  This management model from a partnership between Male Champions of Change and Chief Executive Women suggests actions and behaviours that support progress in gender diversity.
• Addressing Gender Equalities in Science
  This UNESCO priority area offers a number of useful resources for improving measurement of gender equality in STEM.

Gender pay equity

• The Gender Pay Gap – WGEA
  The Workplace Gender Equality Agency analyses and contextualises the gender pay gap in Australia.
• The gender pay gap calculator – WGEA
  The Workplace Gender Equality Agency provides this tool to identify and analyse the causes of the various types of organisational gender pay gaps.
• "Tracking pay equity: The impact of regulatory change on the dissemination and sustainability of equal remuneration decisions"
  This paper provides valuable insights into the impact of regulatory change in addressing gender pay equity.
• The UQ pay equity guide  (PDF, 662.5 KB)
  Equal pay for equal work. A phrase we have all heard, and a phrase, despite the best intentions of many, that has been consistently overlooked by institutions, leaders and managers, and employees themselves.

  We understand that pay inequity is a complex ground, and that’s why we have created this guide. To help explain to the UQ community about the gender pay gap, its causes and the benefits we will receive if we work towards achieving gender pay equity in our work areas, and academia as a whole.

  For leaders and managers: this guide provides actionable suggestions to ensure you are an inclusive leader and help employees that seek to achieve gender pay equity. Key steps include: liaising with your Human Resources team to begin the process, devising an internal strategy to tackle pay inequity through the help of a pay audit, and annual performance and pay reviews. Another key consideration in today’s world is the impact, challenges and opportunities that flexible work provides for reinforcing pay equity and challenging gendered stereotypes at the same time.

  For UQ staff: this guide outlines key steps you can take to begin exploring opportunities where they present themselves to have a positive impact on pay equity. While this needs to be enabled by institutions, it is never too early for you to begin informing yourself about this journey.

• UQ negotiation guide (PDF, 159 KB)
  We all know the role of negotiation skills. Whether it’s to make a sales pitch or apply for a research grant – good negotiation skills play a crucial role. They play an even more crucial role in one’s own career development.

  Research demonstrates that gender impacts negotiation styles, outcomes and even women’s desire to engage in negotiations for personal gains.

  This guide has been created by the Gender Steering Committee under the auspices of the UQ SAGE Athena SWAN program.

  For leaders and managers: it highlights the role you play to enable an equitable workplace. It does this by providing action items which foster an environment that abandons gendered expectations and stereotypes, and puts the focus on an employee’s growth and performance.

  For UQ staff: it provides tangible opportunities, especially for women, to start their negotiation journey for their own career progression and remuneration outcomes. We know it is not an easy journey, burdened with so many social gendered biases, but this guide is a great place to start!

Quotas and targets

• "Targets and Quotas for Women in Leadership”
  This Centre for Ethical Leadership research paper provides empirical evidence and analysis on the impact of targets and quotas for women in leadership.

Parental leave

• Parental Leave Resources for UQ Staff
  UQ’s Workplace Diversity and Inclusion team has developed a suite of resources to support staff returning from a period of parental leave, and to support supervisors support staff returning to work from a period of parental leave.
• National Working Families Report 2019: Parents and carers need our support
• “Mothers’ perceptions of support in the workplace: a sense of entitlement or resignation?”
  This research paper from UQ’s Professor Gillian Whitehouse investigates mothers’ ‘sense of entitlement’ or ‘sense of resignation’ to workplace supports for family responsibilities, and whether change is needed before effective work/family supports become part of Australian working parents’ normal expectations.
• Equality enabling parental leave: prevalence and distribution in Australian universities
• Motherhood: A potential source of bias in employment decisions
  This paper explores the impact of gender stereotypes on the perception of parents in the workplace provide valuable insights into gender equity.
• The “Bad Parent” assumption: how gender stereotypes affect reactions to working mothers
  This paper explores the impact of gender stereotypes on the perception of parents in the workplace provide valuable insights into gender equity.

Intersectionality

• Intersectionality chapter in the Oxford Handbook
  This chapter provides a definition and in-depth explanation of the principles of intersectionality.
• UQ Guide to Inclusive Language
  This guide provides information about how to apply the principles of inclusive language to foster a safe and inclusive environment for all staff and students.
• Australia Talks: Are there more than two genders?

Unconscious Bias

• UQ Managing Unconscious Bias Program
  We encourage all staff to complete this program to help foster a diverse and inclusive work culture.
• re:Work
  Google’s program provides numerous useful resources, including an excellent workshop "Unconscious Bias @ Work", which is supported by a number of useful practical resources.
• Facebook: Managing Unconscious Bias
  Facebook’s toolkit provides excellent workshops on unconscious bias in the workplace.
• Harvard Implicit Bias test
  Test your own implicit bias within 15 minutes with this test backed up by Harvard research and techniques, with instant results.

Other useful resources

• Mum, PhD (online community) Mum, PhD is an online community to connect and support women combining academia and motherhood (now or in the future).