Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Regional Futures) and Vice-President Professor Cobie Rudd.
The sustained leadership work of ECU in ensuring gender equity, diversity and inclusion are front and centre on the agenda, has been recognised by a new national award and the first such award in Australia.
The University has been acknowledged nationally with the inaugural Cygnet Award; part of the international Athena Swan accreditation program managed by the Science in Australia Gender Equity (SAGE) Initiative.
Vice-Chancellor Professor Steve Chapman CBE said the Cygnet Award was a much-valued acknowledgement of the University and its staff's dedicated work to achieve meaningful, systemic, structural and cultural change in gender equity, diversity and inclusion.
Professor Chapman CBE says he and his entire University team are committed advocates of the Athena Swan accreditation, which he explains is the only transformational gender equity, diversity and inclusion program recognised internationally.
"Athena's evidence-based and data-driven approach is designed to encourage institutions to achieve measurable change and share evidence of gender equity interventions that work that remove or reduce barriers to attraction, retention or progression," Professor Chapman said.
"We were honoured to be named an Athena Swan Bronze Institution, as one of only fifteen Australian institutions, and the Cygnet Award now recognises how successful our progress has been in breaking down barriers to gender equality in all its forms."
"Being awarded the first Cygnet Award is evidence that our University's initiatives are not just about talk – they are about real change with tangible outcomes, which is why ECU is so proud to be recognised as a leader in this space."
Professor Chapman said his own leaders within the University had been key drivers for change, achieving accreditation by undergoing a rigorous two-year process, which involved identifying the barriers to equality and devising practices, processes and actions to address them.
Leading the Athena Swan program at ECU since 2015, is Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Regional Futures) and Vice-President Professor Cobie Rudd, who said she was incredibly proud of the University's work over the past seven years and saw this latest Award as a great testament to ECU's sustained commitment to gender equality.
ECU is the only university named after a woman in Australia, a woman whose lifetime achievements included a strong focus on gender equality.
"The SAGE Athena SWAN initiative has been a powerful vehicle for positive change and the Cygnet Award really highlights how we have identified barriers to the attraction, retention, and progression of women at ECU with more flexible working arrangements," Professor Rudd said.
"Over the past few years, we have put in place several strategies to address gender equality, including a range of initiatives that work to make ECU a truly welcoming and flexible place for all those within, including those with parenting and caring responsibilities.
"We also know in the context of Covid-19, that the pandemic has had serious gendered impacts, so this work has been particularly beneficial in that space.
"People in the institution are our most valuable asset, and that’s what drives our collective commitment and shared motivation to achieving gender equality, diversity and inclusion."
"The achievement of this Cygnet Award provides an opportunity to congratulate all of my colleagues who have worked so hard to reduce gender inequalities - this Award is for everyone in the University."
SAGE said they were thrilled to congratulate ECU with an inaugural Cygnet Award for their work to promote equitable access to flexible working arrangements, which marked a significant milestone on the journey from Bronze to Silver Athena Swan accreditation.
"As we celebrated Edith Cowan University's namesake (Edith Dircksey Cowan) birthday this week I couldn't help reflecting on how proud she would have been to see her legacy of redressing inequalities and improving education and opportunities for women so well sustained in the University's values," said Professor Rudd.
Athena SWAN was launched in the United Kingdom in 2005 to advance the representation and progression of women in science, technology, engineering, mathematics and medicine (STEMM) and has since been adopted in Ireland, Canada and the United States.
Learn more about the SAGE awards pathway
