SAGE Pilot Call for Applications
Appendix C: Institutional Application to Participate in the SAGE Pilot
of Athena SWAN in Australia


Instructions: Provide evidence of gender equity processes and demonstrate commitment to carry out
the SAGE Pilot of Athena SWAN. Applications are strictly limited to two pages of information (no less
than size 10 font), though hyperlinks to existing policies and programs are encouraged.
Email to SAGE Project Manager, Dr Zuleyka Zevallos, along with Institutional Letter Template
(Appendix B). Submit via email to [email protected]
1.
Nominate point of contact who will lead SAGE Pilot data gathering & evaluation
(Note: Must be senior STEM faculty at the Professorial level or senior research leader)
Title, First & Last Name
Professor Carolyn Oldham, sponsored by SDVC Professor Dawn Freshwater
Role/Position
Professor of Environmental Engineering
Civil, Environmental and Mining Engineering
Department/Faculty
Institution
The University of Western Australia
Phone number
08 6488 3531
[email protected]
Email
Postal address
M015, 35 Stirling Highway Crawley, WA. 6009
2.
Background data on size of institution
(Note: Include casual, part-time and full-time staff)
Total number (N=)
UWA
Casual UWA ACAD
Causal UWA PROF
STEM
Academic personnel in STEM
disciplines
(including medical/ clinical)
Academic level/equivalent
Total M+ F
F (n=)
Casual (all levels)
552
292
A
274
145
B
338
177
C
379
162
D
192
54
E
196
29
Total Number
1931
859
F (%=)
53
53
52
43
28
15
44
Non-casual
Casual
1116
288
774
182
70
63
Total Number
Undergrad
Postgrad HDR
Postgrad coursewk
1404
2044
1440
2660
956
984
702
1282
68
48
49
48
Students in STEM disciplines
1
2491
488
382
1341
% Womenidentified
58%
53%
63%
54%
All staff
(Academic & Professional)
Professional personnel in
STEM disciplines
(including medical/ clinical)
4299
924
609
2495
F (n=)
3.
List summary of existing gender equity policies, with hyperlinks to documentation
Equity and Diversity Unit (2.0 FTE)
Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action Statement
Achievement relative to opportunity
Flexible Work and Leave Practices
 Personal Leave (Illness, Injury and Caring)
 Cultural/ceremonial leave
 Deferred salary scheme
 Parental leave
 Employee funded leave
 Home-based work
 Part-time work
 Job-sharing
 Annualised hours
 Flexitime
 Hours of work
Workforce Diversity Strategy
Sex Harassment
Children on University Campus
Diverse Sexualities and Genders
Gender Balance on Committees
Guidelines on the use of non-discriminatory language
Professional and Personal Relationships in the Workplace
2
Other supporting evidence of existing programs and activities promoting the ideas conveyed in the Athena
SWAN principles
For example list: gender diversity training courses; leadership training for women and gender diverse students,
postdocs and early career researchers; mentorship and sponsorship for women in STEM; systems and
arrangements supporting gender equity, such as parental leave policies; process for hiring, promoting and
retaining women and transgender staff; and gender equity institutional reports. Provide hyperlinks where
possible.
The University has had long-standing , though ad-hoc, initaitives in equity, diversity and inclusion;
a summary is given below. A five-year UWA Equality and Inclusion Strategy is currently being
developed, to integrate current and future initiatives, including Athena SWAN.
Recent successes include:
 In 2014 celebrating 20 years of the Leadership Development for Women Program,
demonstrating the University's continued commitment to developing women to take on
leadership roles and challenging the traditional organisational culture.
 Publishing Leading the Way, a book that captures and celebrates the many and varied
achievements of the Leadership Development for Women program.
 Seeking improvement by self-evaluation such as Making use of the results of the biennial
Working Life Survey to benchmark staff satisfaction with other universities.
 Sponsoring Optimising Faculty Performance: Maximising the potential of academic
women. A research project looking exclusively at the careers of academic women in the
Faculty of Engineering Computing and Maths.
 Facilitating a research project specifically investigating the role of sponsorship versus
mentorship in the careers of Academic women.
 Completing research on the impact of non-linear careers on women in the Academy
 Our CEO, the Vice-Chancellor Paul Johnson, taking an active role in the Western
Australian Chapter of the Male Champions of Change, CEOs for Gender Equity. Professor
Carolyn Oldham is the UWA representative on the Education Committee of this group. Fay
Davidson is a representative on the Diversity Working group.
 Annual Gender Pay Gap analysis, to monitor the gender pay gap and enables UWA to to
diagnose performance, set goals and build a comprehensive gender equality strategy.
 Annual reporting to the workplace Gender Equality Agency on the gender pay gap,
promotions and policies.
 Working to improve a flexible academic promotion and tenure system that has
dismantled structural barriers impeding staff wishing to play active parenting or caring
roles by the introduction of Achievement Relative to Opportunity.
 Introducing a Catalyst research leadership and development program with focus on midcareer researchers.
 Implementing a performance management system that encourages all supervisory staff to
be proactive in supporting flexible work practices and an appropriate work/life balance,
and to model this behaviour themselves.
 Winning the prestigious 2014 Australian Human Resources Industry Award for Cross
Cultural Management and demonstrating commitment to including culturally diverse
women and encouraging cross-cultural competency
 Demonstrating commitment to including gender diverse and women of diverse sexuaty by
being ranked in the top 10 Employers by Pride in Diversity (PID) for LGBTI inclusion.
 Access to quality, affordable and accessible child care on campus.
 A range of flexible working arrangements through the Enterprise Agreements. These
include flexible working hours, permanent part time work, job sharing arrangements,
purchased leave, deferred salary scheme, working from home arrangements and parental
3






leave arrangements.
Adopting a very wide interpretation of family and recognises, among others, same-sex
relationships and those determined by cultural and other differences.
Hosting Uni-Super and other career events for women, including women approaching
retirement.
Offering programs to support key university initiatives such as the Education Futures and
the Bio-zone program across several faculties focused on biomedicine.
An individually negotiated phased retirement system that supports staff making the
transition from full time work to full time retirement.
Career planning and mobility, while not strictly for women only, encourages women to
take an active role in steering their professional careers.
Policies demanding gender balance on short-lists for recruitment, and selection panels.
Areas still to be explored and developed include:
 Greater development of awareness of unconscious bias in selection, recruitment and
career development
 the implementation of bold targets for recruitment and promotion
 greater expectation of leadership in modelling gender inclusive behaviour and pro-active
responses to gender equality
 better facilities for parenting and child friendly workplaces.
 greater use of metrics and development of innovative and workable solutions to effect
culture change.
4
4. Checklist of requirements
The institution acknowledges the following requirements to participate in the SAGE Pilot:
☐ commitment of adequate personnel and resources to carry out data gathering, analysis and evaluation
for the Pilot
☐ support staff in data gathering of quantitative data (such as STEM staff and student data) and
qualitative data (policies, practices, systems and arrangements)
☐ team participating in SAGE Pilot will be gender balanced and include a mix of personnel at different
levels and from different disciplines, and including senior scientists, other academics, HR or equality and
diversity specialists, or other subject-matter experts to ensure robust data collection and analysis
☐ adequate adjustment of other commitments for team participating in the SAGE Pilot
☐ support staff to participate in ongoing SAGE Pilot activities, including local and interstate workshops
and other panels
☐ release personnel to provide interviews and other feedback as part of the ongoing evaluation of the
SAGE Pilot throughout the two-year period
☐ provide at least two peer reviewers (or more as requested) to participate in moderation panels to
assess Athena SWAN accreditation
☐ commitment to act on recommendations identified in the SAGE Pilot, including challenges and
opportunities for gender equity, when renewing Athena SWAN membership and accreditation.
5