The Catalysing Gender Equity 2020 conference is currently underway in Adelaide. It is a two-day conference run by the Australian Academy of Science, in collaboration with Science in Australia Gender Equity (SAGE), with representatives from across research, industry, education and government.
Some of the gender equity issues, and the solutions for them, that are being discussion at this conference include;
- Women depart science in larger numbers than men and they depart to take up careers in other organisations
- You can't see what you can't see - We need more visible female role models in STEM careers, and those role models need to exhibit a family and work life balance
- Society assumes Professor = Male - try googling 'professor style'
- Women who assert their ideas are often described as 'aggressive' by men
- Achieving equity is not about changing women but rather the culture that does not support them as they are
- Should research funding be linked to gender equity initiatives?
- "We can't be excellent if we are not diverse" the internal mantra of the Australian Academy of Science
Follow the Twitter hashtag #CGE2020 for news, updates and commentary.