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ECU's journey to achieving gender diversity and equality

Wednesday, 09 October 2019

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ECU has been featured in the 3rd Edition of the Cultural Times, an independent magazine that celebrates the diversity and uniqueness of various cultures from around the world. ECU was invited to contribute to this edition (Where Diversity Thrives) and it was timely to capture some of the ways we’re responding to feedback from staff along ECU’s journey to redressing gender inequities.

ECU’s achievements to date would not have been possible if we didn’t have the organisation-wide ‘power’ behind gender equality. From the early days back in 2016, when the Vice-Chancellor was involved with other executive staff, running discussions on all campuses, we heard about the barriers for women progressing in their careers and how might they best be solved. ECU staff have been at the forefront of guiding us on this journey and giving us a raft of great ideas, including at some recent focus groups on advancing women in STEMM.

As a result, we’ve responded to obstacles concurrent to our data collection, analysis and planning for positive change. For example, we have 98 dedicated parent parking bays across all campuses for those staff and students with parental drop-off responsibilities; we have 7 parenting rooms all 5-star rated for use by staff and students; funding is available for travel to conferences to enable women to attend by taking their children and/or a support person with them; and we have a suite of resources to support working parents at ECU preparing for career breaks and re-entering the workforce following a career break.

As well, we have ECU champions, both male and female, who are critical to the success of our cause. This has not been easy, but we cannot and will not stop. There’s so much more to do – we feel we’ve really just started…

To view the publication please click here or for more information about ECU’s commitment to gender equality, visit the Athena SWAN website.

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