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Edith Cowan Memorial Lecture 2019 - ‘Getting the balance right’

Friday, 08 March 2019

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International Women’s Day (IWD) is celebrated around the world on the 8th of March and is a day to both celebrate the incredible achievements of women and acknowledge the work that still lies ahead in achieving gender parity. The 2019 global campaign theme is #balanceforbetter and ECU’s 11th annual Edith Cowan Memorial Lecture on 5 March featured a gender-balanced ‘two on two’ panel which made for an insightful discussion at the Pines on the Joondalup campus. Proceedings commenced with a Welcome to Country by Marcia Browley.

Vice-Chancellor, Professor Steve Chapman CBE and Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Strategic Partnerships),  Professor Cobie Rudd posed a series of hard-hitting questions on ‘getting the balance right’ between economic sustainability and equity initiatives with two leading equity specialists:

  • Dianah Worman OBE (from the UK) – A Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development Specialist, Dianah has worked in diversity and inclusion for many years.  Having been a member of various ministerial advisory boards, she was the invited UK advocate for the European wide initiative on Equal Pays in 2013, and a global thought leader on diversity and inclusion by the Society of Human Resource Management in the United States;
  • Professor Braden Hill – ECU’s new Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Equity and Indigenous, and Head of Kurongkurl Katitjin joined the University in January, 2019. Braden is a Nyungar (Wardandi) man from the south-west of Western Australia with extensive experience in leading a wide range of equity initiatives in the higher education sector.

The well-attended event was highly interactive with attendees able to directly ask questions of the panel throughout the discussions. A series of themes where explored including the role that leaders play as models in promoting work life balance to their employees and the importance of accessing creativity and talent through different perspectives to drive competitive business outcomes.

ECU was one of the first 11 universities in Australia to receive a Bronze Athena SWAN Award in December 2018. The Vice-Chancellor noted the international success of Athena SWAN and the importance of having a gender equality focus in driving business success and work life satisfaction for both men and women.

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