About Universities australia women
First formed in 1994, Universities Australia Women brings together Australia’s 39 comprehensive universities to promote gender equality and improve the status of women in higher education.
Through targeted research, practice and advocacy, we work to support women and overcome barriers to women’s participation and success in higher education.
UAW was previously known as Universities Australia Executive Women.
Chairs
Chair: Professor Helen Huntly, Vice-President (Academic), CQUniversity
Deputy Chair: Professor Jessica Vanderlelie, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Students), La Trobe University
Deputy Chair: Professor Romy Lawson, Provost, Murdoch University
Previous Chairs:
- Professor Caroline Finch, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research), Edith Cowan University (2019–2020)
- Professor Eileen Baldry, Deputy Vice-Chancellor Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, UNSW Sydney (2019–2020)
- Professor Kerri-Lee Krause, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic), La Trobe University (2017–2018)
- Professor Marcia Devlin, Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Senior Vice-President, Victoria University (2017–2018)
REPORTS AND RESOURCES
GENDER EQUITY AND INCLUSION BY DESIGN
Read the full research report here:
- Gender Equity Toolkit
- Gender inclusive practices and work life balance in Australian universities
- Appendix Gender inclusive practices and work life balance in Australian universities
WOMEN AND AWARDS Gender
Awards can be a powerful tool to acknowledge the contributions of Australian women, place their achievements on record, and advance the individual careers of talented women. This resource provides helpful tips to improve gender equality in the awards system, including the nomination process within universities.
Sponsorship Guide
UAW, in partnership with Dr Jen de Vries and Dr Jennifer Binns, developed Sponsorship: Creating Career Opportunities for Women in Higher Education Guidelines. The guide is an educative tool with practical guides to support Australian universities in enhancing their sponsorship practice. The guide provides insights into the benefits and challenges of sponsorship so individuals and organisations can decide whether and how sponsorship might meet their needs and which tools they would like to implement.
This video features Dr Jennifer de Vries speaking about mentoring and sponsorship at a UAW event.
best practice recruitment guidelines
The Best Practice Recruitment Guidelines were developed by UAW, in partnership with Fisher Leadership, to fast forward the advancement of women in Australian university executive appointments. The guidelines are supplemented by case studies.
Mentors to many video vignettes
The video vignettes involve interviews with senior university executives, who address a series of questions that a mentee or aspiring leader might typically ask a mentor or sponsor:
- Professor Attila Brungs, Vice-Chancellor and President, University of Technology Sydney
- Professor Jane den Hollander, Vice-Chancellor, Deakin University
- Professor John Dewar, Vice-Chancellor, La Trobe University
unconscious bias guidelines
UAW has produced guidelines for Councils and universities to consider when designing programs or initiatives to tackle unconscious bias.
womencount: Australian universities 2016
WomenCount: Australian Universities 2016 reports on the participation of women in the most senior leadership roles Australian universities as at September 2016. The roles considered in the report include Chancellors, Deputy Chancellors, university councils, Chairs of key governing body committees, Vice-Chancellors and their executive teams, Chairs of academic boards and heads of faculties.
The report, sponsored by Perrett Laver, shows that universities, individually and collectively, are taking action to increase women’s leadership in senior roles. There is progress to celebrate in some areas but work is continuing across a number of priorities.
Click here for the full report.
