The SAGE Athena SWAN Program

The Science in Australia Gender Equity (SAGE) Athena Science Women’s Academic Network (SWAN) charter aims to improve gender equity in science, technology, engineering, mathematics, medicine (STEMM) disciplines in higher education and research institutions.

The University of Queensland is proud to be a Bronze Institutional Award level participant in the SAGE Athena SWAN program, a charter for research organisations that is improving gender equity in the science, technology, engineering, mathematics and medicine (STEMM) disciplines all over the world.

UQ is a proud recipient of the Bronze Institutional Award of the SAGE Pilot of Athena SWAN.
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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 AustraliaMale 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.

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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:

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 

Women in STEM decadal plan

Academic career path

Performance relative to opportunity

Business case for gender equity and leadership

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

Parental leave

Intersectionality

Unconscious Bias

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).