Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace
Annual Compliance Report 2010
(1 April 2009 to 31 March 2010)
The University of Western Australia
Equity and Diversity
October 2010
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CONTENTS
Page
I. EXPLANATORY NOTES 1
II. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 2
III. UWA GENDER DATA
1. Academic Staff by Function, Classification and Distribution 2005-2010 4
Table 1a. Academic Staff by Function & Classification
Table 1b. Academic Staff Equity Index
Figure 1a. Academic Staff Equity Index
Figures 1b-d. Academic Staff by Classification
2. Professional Staff by Function, Classification and Distribution 2005-2010 7
Table 2a. Professional Staff by Function & Classification
Table 2b. Professional Staff Equity Index
Figure 2a. Professional Staff Equity Index
Figure 2b. Professional Staff by Classification
3. Staff by Classification, Appointment Type and Appointment Status 2005-2010 9
Table 3. Staff by Function, Appointment Type and Appointment Status
Figures 3a-d Staff by Appointment Type and Status
4. New Appointments and Separations 2009 12
Table 4a. New Appointments and Separations for Academic Staff
Table 4b. New Appointments and Separations for Professional Staff
5. Staff by Function, Classification and Age 2010 14
Table 5a. Academic Staff by Classification and Age
Table 5b. Professional Staff by Classification and Age
6. Discretionary Allowances 2010 16
Table 6a. Academic Staff Discretionary Allowances
Table 6b. Professional Staff Discretionary Allowances
7. Academic Staff Promotion 2005-2009 17
Table 7a. Academic Staff Promotion Application and Success Jan-Dec 2005-2009
Table 7b. Academic Staff Fast Track Promotions 2000-2009
8. UWA Leadership Roles by Gender 2010 19
Table 8. Faculty Leadership Roles by Gender
Figure 4. UWA Management Structure Tiers 1-4
I. EXPLANATORY NOTES
1. All data is ‘According to Gender’.
2. Data is for the period 1 April 2009-31 March 2010. 31 March is the University’s annual ‘census date’. Data in Table 7a: ‘Academic Staff Promotion Application and Success’ is for the calendar year 2009.
3. All data excludes casual staff.
4. DEFINITIONS
Employment Type / Academic or ProfessionalFunction / Academic Teaching & Research, Research Intensive, Teaching Intensive, Other Professional Mainstream Professional, Research Intensive
Classification / Academic DVC/PVC; Levels A-E
Professional < HEW 1 – > HEW 10
Appointment Type / Ongoing or Fixed Term
Appointment Status / Full Time or Part Time
5. Academic Classifications
Function & Level / Teaching & Research / Other / Research Intensive / Teaching IntensiveLevel A / Lecturer / Research Associate / Lecturer
Level B / Assistant Professor / Research Assistant Professor / Assistant Professor
Level C / Associate Professor / Research Associate Professor / Associate Professor
Level D / Professor / Research Professor / Professor
Level E / Winthrop Professor / Research Winthrop Professor / Winthrop Professor
DVC/PVC / Deputy/Pro Vice-Chancellor
II. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Overview
The 2010 EOWA Compliance Report is an important element in building the overall gender equity picture at UWA. It extends the work of other comprehensive gender equity reports such as the 2008 UWA Pay Equity Report, Merit Relative to Opportunity Paper produced by the Group or Eight Staff Equity Group and the annual Employer of Choice submission. This Report identifies both achievements to date as well as future challenges through the use of targeted data sets to reveal sites of privilege, as well as those of disadvantage and progression.
The 2010 annual EOWA Report, while not dissimilar to those in the recent past, reveals both noteworthy achievements as well as historical gender equity ‘gaps’ that have prevailed for most of the last decade. It is worthwhile noting, for the first time, that women now comprise more than half of staff at the most senior professional staff category (Level 10 and above) and that the number of women Directors has more than doubled in the male-dominated portfolios of the Executive Director (Finance and Resources) and Executive Director and Registrar.
There are three key areas of concern; namely, the ongoing unequal representation in the Professoriate, the lower Equity Index for women in the Professional staffing stream despite its gender profile and the poor representation of women in the Heads of School category.
Key Achievements
The overall representation (%) and distribution (Equity Index scores) of female academic staff employed at the University of Western Australia has continued to increase in a positive direction.
Women now comprise 39.3% of all academic staff, an improvement of 14.3% over the decade since the 25% representation noted in 2000.
Teaching and Research positions at Levels A and B are equitably distributed between male and female staff, with female representation at a healthy 54.5% in Level A, and 49.8% at Level B.
Representation at Levels C and D in the research intensive category has increased, with Level D now at 33.3%, showing a marked improvement from the 21.7% reported in 2004.
Women currently comprise 66% of all professional staff at UWA, and the majority at every level of the professional staffing stream except for the penultimate (Level 10) and the lowest (Level 1).
There has been a significant increase in the representation of women in the most senior level of professional staff (HEW 10 and above) in the last two years - 52% in the current reporting period from 41.9% in 2008, and a healthy increase from the 2004 representation of only 33.3%.
Women comprised 43.3% of all teaching and research academics promoted, with 22 successful applicants out of 26. This figure represents a significant increase (up from 34% in 2009) in the percentage of academic women successfully gaining promotion through the academic ranks at UWA.
Of all the University leadership categories, the position of Dean of Faculty continues a consistent longitudinal trend in gender equity performance. In 2010, four of the ten Deans of Faculty[1] were women.
Women have now consolidated their positions in Faculty management, with female Faculty and School Managers at 64% and 63% respectively.
The greatest achievement in the current reporting period has been the significant improvement in the gender equity performance within the portfolios of the Executive Director (Finance and Resources), and Executive Director and Registrar. After many years of poor performance (from 2006-2008, women held only two Director positions, increasing to three in 2009), senior women now hold five of the 19 Director positions within these Divisions.
Ongoing challenges
Notwithstanding the significant increase in the numbers of academic women over the past decade, their representation has remained static (39%) across the past two reporting periods.
The pattern of equitable distribution in the ‘teaching and research’ category at Levels A and B tapers off in favour of men beyond these levels: women now comprise just over a third of staff at Level C (40%), a quarter at Level D (24.8%), and less than a fifth at Level E (17.2%).
The percentage of Female Research Intensive staff remains fairly static at 44.2%, showing little overall change since 2004 (45.7%). Representation at Level B in this category (46.8%) has continued to decrease slightly over the last five years, down to 47.5% from 50.4% in 2004. Women are still having difficulty attaining the most senior positions in this category, where men comprise 91.9% of staff at Level E.
Men’s predominance at Levels 10 and 10+ also needs to be addressed since it is this over representation at the higher levels that accounts for the professional staff Equity Index scores (measures of distribution). Although women comprise 66% of the professional staff, their EI score is only 88 indicating an over representation of women into lower classification levels. The male EI score for professional staff is 127 indicating that these 35.6% of staff are over represented at the more senior classification levels. An EI score of 100 indicates equitable distribution of staff.
Despite yearly fluctuations in academic promotion rates, when the data is examined longitudinally from 2003-2007, academic women have a consistently lower application, but higher or equal success rate to men (80.6% and 78.5% respectively in 2009, and 84.6% and 85.2% respectively in 2010).
While women appear to have consolidated their positions in Faculty management (Faculty and School manager positions), it is worthwhile monitoring the significant 10% reduction in representation at the more senior Faculty Manager level since the last reporting period (women comprised 74% in 2009). Gains in representation and distribution of women across more senior occupational categories are often tenuous, and the male ‘creep’ often emerges.
The consistent trend of poor representation of women in the ‘Heads of School’ category continues (20% in 2010). This represents a significant concern, not only because it is a feeder category for more senior levels of academic leadership such as Dean and Pro Vice-Chancellor, but also because women are choosing not to take on the role.
The over-representation of men in both the most senior ranks of professional staff and Heads of School category remains an ongoing concern. Gender diversity in leadership encourages new perspectives and female leaders improve the situation for women below. Gender-based research in the academic staffing arena consistently underscores the importance of visible female leadership as a powerful agent of cultural change, thereby improving both their employment outcomes and working conditions.
1. Academic Staff by Function, Classification and Distribution 2005-2010
* Note: Level E in the ‘Other’ category includes the DVC (Research) & two PVCs (Research and Education)
The overall representation (%) and distribution (Equity Index scores) of female academic staff employed at the University of Western Australia has remained fairly constant over the past three years. Women now comprise 39.3% of all academic staff, an improvement of 14.3% over the last decade since the 25% representation noted in 2000.
Similarly, the percentage of women in the category of Teaching and Research staff has also remained fairly constant across 2006-2010 i.e. hovering just above one-third (33.3%). Teaching and Research positions at Levels A and B are fairly equitably distributed between male and female staff, with female representation at a healthy 55.9% in Level A, and 48.6% at Level B. Women comprise the majority of staff (61.9%) in the new ‘Teaching Intensive and Other Functions’ category. However, this pattern tapers off in favour of men beyond these levels: women now comprise well in excess of a third of staff at Level C (40%), a mere quarter at Level D (24.7%) and less than a fifth at Level E (17.2%).
The pattern of decreasing numbers of female Teaching and Research staff as they progress through the academic ranks remains a cause for concern, with the most substantial attrition occurring between Level C and Level D (from 40.1% to 24.7%). In 2010, female representation decreased from 55.9% at Level A to 17.2% at Level E. In contrast, male representation increases in the movement upwards: from 46.1% at Level A to 82.8% at Level E.
The percentage of Female Research Intensive staff remains fairly static at 44.2%, showing little overall change since 2004 (45.7%). Representation at Level B in this category has continued to decrease slightly over the last five years, down to 46.8% from 50.4% in 2004. In contrast, representation at Levels C and D has increased, with Level D now at 33.3%, showing a marked improvement from the 21.7% reported in 2004. Women are still having difficulty attaining the most senior positions in this category, where men comprise 90.9% of staff at Level E. This trend is consistent with national data which shows a marked absence of senior women researchers across the whole sector.
While the ‘Other’ category is a cohort of only 16, these academic staff members hold leadership roles and/or positions of service to the University (for example, in higher education development) in the UWA Executive and Vice-Chancellery and the Centre for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning (CATL). Of these 16 positions, nine are held by women and this is significant in terms of potential career progression for academic women and diversity in an important leadership role. Separation of this cohort into its own function reveals that there are alternative routes to positions of University leadership, a pathway previously obscured by their inclusion in the Teaching and Research category.
2. Professional Staff by Function, Classification and Distribution 2005-2010
Professional women staff currently comprise 65.9% of all staff at UWA. Growth in female Professional staff numbers has been slight, up from 63.9% in 2005 to 65.9% in 2010. Women now comprise the majority at every level of the professional staffing stream except for the penultimate (Levels 10) and the lowest (<Level 1). The high concentration of women in the lower to middle classification levels is a persistent factor contributing to the gender imbalance of the professional staffing stream.
Men’s predominance at Levels 10 and 10+ also needs to be monitored since it is this over representation at the higher levels that accounts for the professional staff Equity Index scores (measures of distribution). Although women comprise 65.9% of the professional staff, their EI score is only 88 indicating an over representation of women into lower classification levels. The male EI score for professional staff is 127 indicating that these 35.5% of staff are over represented at the more senior classification levels. An EI score of 100 indicates equitable distribution of staff.
There has been a healthy increase in the representation of women in the most senior level of professional staff (HEW 10 and above) in the last two years - 52% in the current reporting period from 41.9% in 2008, and a healthy increase from the 2004 representation of only 33.3%.
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3. Staff by Function, Appointment Type and Appointment Status 2005-2010