SAGE Athena Swan Program

A series of focus groups were held in 2022 to explore the impact of the Athena Swan initiatives on the five key barriers, as well as identify future opportunities for improvement. These were, led by Associate Professor Sue Williamson, Deputy Academic Lead of the Athena Swan Self-Assessment Team.  

Participants with lived experience (UNSW professional and academic staff and students) were recruited across all faculties, with a focus on STEMM disciplines. 

We are grateful to the staff and students who provided their time and valuable insights in this process. Themes from the focus groups have informed a report, with the executive report available here.

Staff from seven Australian and Canadian universities were surveyed between July-October 2020 on working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Almost half of the responses (47.2%, 5,323) came from Australia and 639 of these were from UNSW.  

A follow-up survey ran at UNSW in April-May 2022, which included 266 UNSW respondents. Questions in the surveys addressed topics including: working from home, productivity and workload, ability to conduct research and submit papers, university expectations, job satisfaction, career prospects, wellbeing and work-life balance. 

UNSW engaged Laureate Professor Lisa Kewley to perform academic gender modelling for the STEM disciplines at UNSW, using 5-year data on promotions, hires, departures and retirements.  Professor Kewley is leading a range of new diversity and inclusion initiatives at Harvard and the Smithsonian where she is Director of the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, Director of the Harvard College Observatory, and Professor of Astrophysics at the Harvard Department of Astronomy.

Professor Kewley has completed modelling for the Faculty of Science, the Faculty of Engineering and UNSW Canberra. The Athena Swan project team are planning ‘Phase 2’ for Academic workforce models which will involve other Faculties, and will explore the desire for additional or updated analysis. 

UNSW collaborates with Parents at Work to provide support to UNSW parents and soon-to-be parents. Topics include: Preparing for Parental Leave, Returning to Work After Parental Leave, and Managing Mental Wellbeing for You and Your Family. Click below for more information on how UNSW supports UNSW parents.

During 2022 UNSW Athena Swan funded research into the outcomes of 3C, a pilot program to support academic women, with carer responsibilities. The research was undertaken by UNSW’s Social Policy Research Centre. 

3C is an initiative of the Women’s Wellbeing Academy led by Associate Professor Lizzie Muller and funded through philanthropic support.  

The program aims to assist participants to overcome the disadvantage many experienced by being disproportionately impacted by the intensification of care loads during the pandemic. As well as continuing academics, the pilot included sessional staff and post-graduate students with current or recent caring responsibilities. Participants took part in small-group career coaching sessions between 25 July – 30 September 2022, run by an expert facilitator.