2022 Progress towards gender equality and diversity

The CoS Diverse and Equitable Hiring and Workforce Development Procedure (PDF, 292KB) states the CoS goal to balance the proportion of women at all levels in all staffing categories to parity by 2030 and to make significant headway in raising awareness of diversity in hiring more broadly. It defines ‘Parity’ as having 40-60% of staff identifying as women in a staffing category. All Schools have made significant progress towards this goal in the past five years. 

RSB has sought to improve the gender balance among academic staff through 2 rounds of targeted recruitments, resulting in 7 of 8 recent appointments identifying as women. This has led to RSB achieving gender parity across academic staff and all staff combined. However, the proportion of women in Level E positions remains low (23%, an issue which is being addressed actively through ongoing mentoring). Cultural diversity in RSB is high, with 54% of staff being born overseas.  That said, there is room for increased cultural diversity among academic staff.

At RSAA, all continuing faculty hires in the last few years have been done advertising two positions, with at least one reserved to individuals identifying as women. The biggest step change in gender equity within the RSAA has been in the AITC, which has seen the fraction of women in the technical/professional staff increase from 5% to 34% in the past year alone thanks to a deliberate women-only hiring strategy. Under this strategy RSAA advertised ten women-only positions last year – six of which have been filled. The recent demographic survey done at RSAA has highlighted significant cultural and linguistic diversity across the School. RSAA also has one of the highest rates across the University of staff identifying as LGBTQIA+. More than 80% of senior academics have completed Unconscious Bias Training and about 30% of staff and students have attended on-site training organized by Mental Health First Aid Australia. To address the broader diversity, RSAA has started an Indigenous apprenticeship program to attract and support indigenous staff and students and currently hosts 2 Indigenous HDR students.

At MSI, over the past 5 years, tenure-track and ongoing academic women* appointments have markedly increased and reached nearly 50%. This success has been achieved partly thanks to advertisements aimed at “women only applicants”. The generous donations to MSI made by Tim and Margaret Bourke have allowed the School to support women academics and students. Research support has been provided in the manner of travel, fractional appointments, and top-up scholarships. 6.4% of MSI staff identify as members of the LGBTQIA+ community (the percentage among the Australian population is 3-4%  [2018 Census data]). Nearly 60% of MSI staff members were born overseas, and more than 66% have caring responsibilities.

RSC has an academic recruitment round in full swing.  The School hopes to make up to five continuing appointments, with a commitment that at least 50% will be folk who identify as women.  It paid particular attention to the language used in the advertising material to ensure that a diverse pool of candidates was attracted. The School will also offer Rita Cornforth Fellowships, an RSC initiative targeted at hiring women academics, to successful Level B-D appointees. 

At RSPhys, ongoing academic women* appointments have gone from 6% to 25%, which is now on par with their long term gender ratio for HDR scholars.  Around 60% of ongoing academic staff are from cultural groups where English is not the primary language.  The RSPhys international HDR cohort represents between 20-30 countries, depending on the year, and between 40-50% of the total HDR cohort. The School has a very active Women* in Physics group, and an excellent family room with breastfeeding and menstrual care facilities.  

CPAS values the parity of academics identifying as male and female that it has achieved and maintained over the past 5 years.  We have now turned our attention to other forms of diversity including representing diversity of culture of origin and linguistic diversity; in 2023, 40% of our academic staff were born outside of Australia and represent 5 different regions of the world.

RSES has achieved parity for professional staff, and for early career academics. Senior academics still predominantly identify as men, but all RSES continuing academics who identify as women have been promoted within the past three years, most to full professor. RSES appointed its first woman Director in 2020. 

FSES has used targeted recruitment and a career development activity to increase the number of staff that identify as women. Between 2015 and 2022 it has increased from 47 to 56% among the professional staff and from 22 to 38% among the on-going academic staff. In the same period the proportion of women academic staff at the levels D-E has progressed from 10 to 27%.

The CoS Services functional teams (Advancement, Business Development, Executive Office, Testing & Tagging, Finance, HR, International Relations & Partnerships, Marketing and Communications, Research Office, & Student Services) are close to achieving gender parity in professional staff positions, (approximately a 70-30% split) favouring staff who identify as female. Nearly 50% of the workforce identify as being born overseas (48.8%), and there appear to be few barriers to career progression with 44.8% of managers identifying as being born overseas.  The College Services equitable hiring strategy has a focus on creating an inclusive environment and providing opportunities for staff from diverse backgrounds.

2023 Progress towards gender equality and diversity

In 2022, the College of Science put in place a set of Equitable Hiring Practices for a Diverse Workforce guidelines. These guidelines include a yearly reporting mechanism.

The attached spreadsheet is the first part of our 2023 reporting. It gives gender information on the composition of the workforce in each of the CoS Schools. Noticeable progress has been made in terms of the percentages of women identifying academic staff. For the College as a whole, these numbers have increased from 36% to 38% (134 out of 352) for early career academics (levels A,B,C), and from 22.6% to 23.7% (42 out of 177) for senior academics (levels D,E). This takes us one step closer to our goal of reaching 40-60% of staff identifying as women in each staffing category by 2030. 

The attached report is the second part of our 2023 reporting. It gives quantitative and qualitative information on the work done by each School (and the CoS Services group) to develop a more diverse workforce. Notable successes include recent promotions of women academic staff to senior levels, and better representation of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander peoples in the CoS workforce (including an apprenticeship leading to an ongoing role in Physics, a visiting indigenous fellowship program at FSES, and the promotion of the first female Indigenous Professor of Mathematics in Australia at MSI).

Community Events Calendar

The Community Events Calendar 2024 recognises significant events observed around the world, both religious and non-religious, highlighting the diversity of people, perspectives and beliefs. Teams are encouraged to observe and learn about these events to include and appreciate the diversity in our workplace and broader community. Education and awareness is a critical element of building an inclusive workplace in which we welcome a diverse representation of society and are a progressive, collaborative organisation.

Managers are encouraged to understand the events that are significant to their staff and whether it is appropriate to recognise or celebrate those events within their team.

The ANU Enterprise Agreement 2017 - 2021 has provision for staff to take cultural leave for the purpose of attending essential religious or cultural obligations associated with the staff member's particular religious faith, culture or tradition, subject to the required notice and reasonable evidence as to the nature of the activity or ceremony the staff member is obliged to attend.

The Community Events Calendar uses a * to indicate a day when observant staff are most likely to take cultural leave. However, this list is not exhaustive, and staff are encouraged to discuss leave requirements with their supervisor and provide the appropriate evidence.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff members are entitled to additional leave to fulfil cultural, community and family obligations under clause 36.13 and 36.14 of the ANU Enterprise Agreement. This includes one day paid NAIDOC leave annually.

Cultural Leave Frequently Asked Questions

Should I approve cultural leave for a certain event?

If a staff member has articulated why that event is significant to them (in writing) and met the notice requirement in the ANU Enterprise Agreement 2023 - 2026 (EA), than managers are encouraged to support and approve cultural leave.

A staff member is having a family dinner to celebrate an event, should I approve the leave?

If the staff member has articulated why the event is significant and that they traditionally celebrate this event with a family dinner, then yes, supervisors are encouraged to support cultural leave. Some cultural events require significant food preparation and it is appropriate to approve leave to prepare for and attend a dinner.

A staff member has requested cultural leave for a non-religious event, should I approve this?

The EA allows for cultural leave for the purpose of attending essential religious or cultural obligations associated with the staff member's particular religious faith, culture or tradition. If an event is significant to an individual where such leave is connected to their identity, their community and where denying such leave would limit feelings of inclusion, psychological safety at work (as in a perception that an individual feels judgement and cannot be their whole self at work), tenure and ultimately the reputation of ANU, then supervisors are encouraged to approve cultural leave for such events.

What if I receive a significant number of cultural leave requests? Can I deny this on operational grounds?

Staff usually request cultural leave for days that are particularly significant to them. For instance, staff identifying to a particular religion will usually request specific days from their relevant calendar (for instance, Hindu, Christian, Buddhist, Islamic). Such days are usually significant to their region of birth, family, community etc. Managers are encouraged to understand which days are significant to their staff and approve cultural leave for these events. Understanding leave requirements early in the year will help teams manage operational requirements. Cultural leave is usually taken in instances of one or two days and supervisors are encouraged to manage operational requirements around cultural leave requests.

What documentation is required for a cultural leave application?

Significant events are recognised and celebrated differently for each individual. Documentation should therefore be flexible to individual needs. For instance, it could be a pamphlet, itinerary, order of service or an email from the staff member explaining the significance of the event and how it will be or is traditionally observed or celebrated by the individual.

Diverse and Equitable Workforce development action plans

The College of Science Diverse and Equitable Hiring and Workforce Development Procedure (pdf, 292KB) requires each School to develop a five year strategy that identifies underrepresentation in the workforce and lists recruitment and retention practices that will remove employment barriers, improve hiring decisions and create a diverse and inclusive workforce that is representative of the Australian population.

To see how the College is actively improving representation through our recruitment, retention and promotion practices, please click on the strategies below that have been endorsed by the College of Science Executive:

• Centre for the Public Awareness of Science (pdf, 392KB)
• Fenner School of Environment and Society (pdf, 211KB)
• Mathematical Sciences Institute (pdf, 238KB)
• Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics (pdf, 265KB)
• Research School of Chemistry (pdf, 225KB)
• Research School of Earth Sciences (pdf, 215KB)
• Research School of Physics (pdf, 208KB)
• Research School of Biology (pdf, 504KB)
• College of Science Services (pdf, 532KB)

Hiring and supporting people with disability

College of Science Pilot

A pilot project was conducted between July and October 2022, including: 

• Providing disability awareness training, information and coaching to local HR and 11 selection committees,
• A review of our recruitment and induction practices to improve accessibility, candidate access to reasonable adjustments and the overall candidate experience,
• The use of Disability Employment Service (DES) providers and Toozly (the largest job board in Australia for people with disability) to communicate vacancies.  

Download a summary of the pilot, results and recommendations (PDF, 143.23 KB)

The pilot was highly successful, and the system and process improvements it generated will be used systemically moving forward.

Measures to support access and inclusion for employees with disability

ANU is implementing measures to support the recruitment, inclusion and retention of employees with disability. This includes:

• Implementing our Disability Action Plan (PDF 203KB),
• Providing a Disability Employee Network,
• Providing training, upskilling and mentoring opportunities,
• Working with Disability Employment Service providers,
• Providing disability awareness training to supervisors and staff,
• Sharing staff stories and listening to experiences to further improve access and inclusion.

Example adjustments during a selection process

We recognise that an individual is often best placed to know what accommodations may help that person to participate in a selection process. To help candidates feel comfortable to discuss adjustment needs, we have prepared a list of common requests. Adjustments to a selection process could include, but are not limited to:

• Providing more time for any assessment including a written application, work test, interview and presentation,
• Having a support person accompany you at interview,
• Arranging an Auslan interpreter at any assessment stage,
• Joining an interview over zoom,
• Providing interview questions in advance.

During a recruitment process, the HR team checks that all assessment rooms and surrounding facilities are accessible. We encourage hiring managers to communicate assessment methods early, in the job advertisement, so that candidates have an opportunity to communicate adjustment needs. We also encourage hiring managers to provide interview questions in advance to assist candidate confidence and inclusion.

If you are applying for a role and would like to discuss adjustment options, please contact the HR team at hr.cos@anu.edu.au. Adjustment requests or the disclosure of disability will not be communicated to the selection committee without the candidates consent and it will not have any bearing on hiring decisions.

Workforce Procedures and Guidelines

• CoS Performance and promotion guidelines (PDF, 317KB)
• CoS Reconciliation Action Plan 2019 - 2021
• CoS Diverse and Equitable Hiring and Workforce Development Procedure (PDF, 292KB)