NTEU WOMEN’S MAGAZINE
Www.NTEU.org.au/women
because of her, we can #METOO in the university Bluestocking women change the rules Gender pay gap & Superannuation union women profiled
Djirri Djirri Dancers
ISSN 1839-6186
Volume 26 September 2018
Women’s Action Committee (WAC) The role of the Women’s Action Committee is to: • Act as a representative of women members, at the national level. • To identify, develop and respond to matters affecting women. • To advise on recruitment policy and resources directed at women. • To advise on strategies and structures to encourage, support and facilitate the active participation of women members at all levels of the NTEU. • To recommend action, and advise on issues affecting women. • To provide editorial advice on Agenda and the women’s website. • To inform members on industrial issues and policies that impact on women.
WAC Delegates 2018 Aca Academic staff representative G/P General/Professional staff representative
National President
• To make recommendations and provide advice to the National Executive, National Council, and Division Executive and Council on industrial, social and political issues affecting women. • Monitor and review the effectiveness of issues, policies and structures affecting women. WAC is chaired by the National President and is composed of one academic and one general/professional staff representative from each Division plus one nominee of the Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Policy Committee.
Jeannie Rea, jrea@nteu.org.au
A&TSI Representative Sharlene Leroy-Dyer Newcastle Anna Strzelecki UniSA
act Aca Sara Beavis ANU G/P Cathy Day ANU
www.nteu.org.au/women
NEW SOUTH WALES Aca Maxine Veale WSU G/P Laura Wilson USyd
NORTHERN TERRITORY Aca Donelle Cross BIITE G/P Sylvia Klonaris CDU
QUEENSLAND Aca Debra Beattie Griffith G/P Diane Lancaster CQU
SOUTH AUSTRALIA Aca Darlene McNaughton Flinders G/P Kate Borrett Adelaide
TASMANIA
DOWNLOAD OR READ THIS MAGAZINE ONLINE @ www.nteu.org.au/agenda Agenda
ISSN 1839-6186 (print), ISSN 1839-6194 (online)
Editor: Jeannie Rea
Production: Paul Clifton
Editorial Assistance: Anastasia Kotaidis
Aca vacant G/P Jenny Smith UTAS
All text and images © NTEU 2018 unless otherwise noted.
VICTORIA
PO Box 1323, South Melbourne VIC 3205 Australia
Published annually by the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU). Phone: 03 9254 1910
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Email: national@nteu.org.au
Fax: 03 9254 1915
Aca Virginia Mansel Lees La Trobe G/P Sara Brocklesby Melbourne
WESTERN AUSTRALIA Aca Suzanne Jenkins Notre Dame Australia G/P Corinna Worth Curtin
In accordance with NTEU policy to reduce our impact on the natural environment, Agenda has been printed using vegetable based inks with alcohol free printing initiatives on FSC certified paper by Printgraphics under ISO 14001 Environmental Certification.
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NTEU WOMEN’S MAGAZINE
Cover: Djirri Djirri dancers after their performance at NTEU A&TSI Forum, attended by the annual WAC meeting. L–R: Dharna Nicholson-Bux, Mandy Nicholson, Sueanne Hunter and Jedda Hunter (front). Photo by Paul Clifton
WWW.NTEU.ORG.AU/WOMEN
Volume 26, September 2018 Editorial
#METOO – NO JUSTICE WITHOUT SEX 16
MEET RESISTANCE WITH PERSISTENCE 2 NTEU National President Jeannie Rea.
Without sex, claims of harassment, abuse and bullying don’t cut through
NEWS
BARRIERS STILL TO EQUALITY IN HIGHER EDUCATION
THE GENDER PAY GAP… AND HOW SUPERANNUATION CAN HELP
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POLITICS HAS A MAN PROBLEM
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NTEU WOMEN’S CHARTER PRESENTED TO ANU VC 4 WOMEN IN NTEU LEADERSHIP
5
ORGANISED WOMEN CAN
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DJIRRI DJIRRI DANCERS
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NTEU WOMEN ADVOCATE FOR ACTION ON GENDERED VIOLENCE AT WORK 7 NTEU MONITORS ACTION ON CHANGE THE COURSE RECOMMENDATIONS 8 8
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BLUESTOCKING WOMEN CHANGE THE RULES 10 Bluestocking Week, now in its sixth year, has continued to grow in both scope and size, with australian gender & higher education stats 2018 events at more campuses across the country. 14.6%
the average gender pay gap is now
an improvement of 0.7% since nov 2017. at tHis rate, women will achieve parity in 17 years. by sector: lowest = education & training 10.6% highest = finance & insurance 31.9%
percentage of graduates entering workforce within 4 months of graduating Source: Quality Indicators for Learning and Teaching (QILT) (2017), Graduate Outcome Survey National Report.
87.7%
93.1% 84.2%
16.5%
7.9%
Part time
13.0%
85.2%
Full time
71.2%
71.2%
91.7% 4.4% 87.3%
90.7%
90.6%
10.4%
10.1% 80.5%
80.3%
employers that have conducted a remuneration gap analysis within the last 12 months
postgrad (coursewk)
undergraduate gender pay gap by sector architecture & built environment law & paralegal studies Humanities, culture & social sciences psycHology Business & management creative arts pharmacy agriculture & environmental studies science & mathematics Health services & support rehaBilitation computing & information systems nursing teacHer education median medicine social work communications engineering
7.6%
5.2% 4.8% 4.6% 4.2% 3.9% 3.4% 3.4% 3.3%
Gender & equity 19.7%
16.7%
16.5%
16.5%
2.5%
1.8% 1.4%
1.1%
0.0%
-2.4%
all fte staFf
teaching & researcH
47.2%
56.0%
Source: NTEU analysis from Department of Education and Training (2016).
researcH only
47.4%
MUSING ON WOMEN & HISTORY: BELLA GUERIN 22
Robyn Oxley is a Tharawal woman, an academic and a passionate advocate on issues effecting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
BECAUSE OF HER WE CAN
14.8% 12.9% 12.5%
teaching only
56.0%
general/ proFessional
64.0%
31
Samantha Petric is the 2018 recipient of the Joan Hardy Scholarship for postgraduate nursing research.
Herstory
24
NAIDOC Week 2018 theme ‘Because of Her We Can’ was a celebration of A&TSI women and their contributions to society.
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Australia’s first woman graduate, Bella Guerin.
international EI WOMEN’S CONFERENCE: THROUGH THE LABYRINTH
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FEMINISATION OF HIGHER EDUCATION INTERNATIONALLY 34
Union women
TOKYO MEDICAL SCHOOL SCANDAL 35
11.4%
7.8% 7.3%
ONGOING DETENTION OF SAUDI WOMEN’S RIGHTS DEFENDERS
6.8%
6.2%
5.4%
5.0%
4.1%
2.4%
1.2%
-9.4%
Round 7 bargaining has seen an increase in provisions around domestic violence leave.
women in the university workforce
THE BLACK AGENDA: Q&A WITH ROBYN OXLEY
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21
8.6%
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE LEAVE SCORECARD 13 3.2%
20
postgraduate gender pay gap by sector agriculture & environmental studies engineering Business & management median computing & information systems medicine Health services & support Humanities, culture & social sciences psycHology teacHer education architecture & built environment law & paralegal studies science & mathematics social work nursing communications rehaBilitation creative arts Source: WGEA analysis of Quality Indicators for Learning and Teaching (QILT) (2017), pharmacy Graduate Outcome Survey National Report.
Scholarships
JOAN HARDY SCHOLARSHIP: SAMANTHA PETRIC
Athena SWAN is a model to improve gender equity in STEMM.
ATHENA SWAN PILOT AT ANU
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Evonne Irwin has been awarded the 2018 Carolyn Allport Scholarship, a postgraduate scholarship in feminist studies.
Tertiary education
13.0% 7.9%
5.7%
STEMM
36.5%
All industries
postgrad (researcH)
NT DIVISION SECRETARY: LOLITA WIKANDER
CAROLYN ALLPORT SCHOLARSHIP: EVONNE IRWIN
THE ATHENA SWAN PROJECT: WHAT IS IT?
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Jeannie Rea sat down with Michele O’Neil to talk about the experiences which have brought her to the leadership of the ACTU.
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Source: WGEA data cube
29.3%
undergraduate
AUSTRALIAN GENDER & HIGHER EDUCATION STATS 2018
A&TSI women
Bluestocking week POWER DRESSING PHOTO SHOOT & FEMINIST SALUTES
Much has changed since the first generation of women pushed their way into universities well over a century ago, yet women still face barriers to equality.
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CLARE MCCARTY WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP PILOT PROJECT
JOBS FOR WOMEN FILM PROJECT
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ACTU PRESIDENT: MICHELE O’NEIL
vice-chancellors
Female
Male
UNION WOMEN OUT TO CHANGE THE RULES
25
The Change the Rules campaign has a specific focus on issues and concerns of women workers.
35
#EVERYDAYSEXISM 36
Editorial
Meet resistance with persistence Are you getting tired of expressions like ‘everyday’ sexism (or racism or homophobia) which can be explained away as ‘unconscious bias’? Even ‘persistent sexism’ has a dispassionate edge as though it is just there. Let’s call it out for what is going on – as women are gaining ground on gender equity, men with power and privilege to lose are actively resisting us. By gaining ground I do not just mean there are more women in formerly male dominated domains. And having the numbers is not what it is all about. We know that. Higher education campuses are increasingly feminised, yet women students and staff still cannot get around campuses confident they are safe from verbal and actual physical attack from men. Undermining women goes on in classrooms and staff rooms, meeting rooms and board rooms. It is relentless, and women are more likely to observe it as exceptional when it is not lurking or pervasive. Men are still rewarded for being men, with expectations and opportunities for advancement (and bonuses); while women still know that gaining status and power (and remuneration) go with putting up with sexism and even adopting more male behaviours – although peculiarly still in suits with high heels. In August, a decline to 14.6% in the gender pay gap to the lowest in 20 years was welcomed all around, even though it means that we are decades away from pay parity at current trends. In the same month, the Liberal Party admitted they apparently have a ‘woman problem’ (and the Nationals, ALP and Greens were no doubt relieved that the focus is off them). I suggest the political parties have a ‘man problem’ – men are fighting hard to retain their privilege, and their ‘rights’ from pre-selection to ministries. Apparently, ‘men of merit’ could miss out
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VOLUME 26 SEPTEMBER 2018
if women get a go. Targets, quotas and so forth are back in debate for political parties, for company and government boards and in universities. One woman – let’s not call her ‘token’ – is not enough anymore. We always knew you needed at least two women to move and second a motion, and to back one another up, and repeat one another’s words and generally take up space – like men.
The reality is that we now have many more women who are well educated and well qualified. We have debunked the rubbish that the bluestocking era feminists, and even their daughters of the 1960s, had to contend with about women’s intellectual inferiority and physical incapacity. Men are now really worried, as they really will not have it so easy as women are everywhere and they will have to miss out on half of the prizes. It is no accident that #MeToo and the associated upsurge in activism and calling out of powerful men who have got away with abusing women is happening now. Domestic violence is harder to hide behind closed doors – because women are now believed. At last more men have taken responsibility for changing the behaviour of men. But there remains resistance, as in private and public places women insist on our rights, some men literally fight back. Some decades ago I used to research and write on women’s oppression and resistance in developing countries. I once wrote that the women of the villages, where I was researching, could not accrue the gender equality advantages from being able to earn their own money, while they faced harassment from men as they travelled to and from school and workplaces. When I concluded that we had to stop men attacking women, a sympathetic male colleague declared that I was on the wrong track. I wish I was. Since then, while women and girls in so many parts of the world have made tremendous advances in education and the workforce, the resistance of men to women’s rights has also become more direct and violent with the kidnapping,
jeannie rea NTEU
maiming and killing of school girls and women students and attacks even on women academics - and on the teaching of feminist theory and perspectives. Even in Australia we have seen the cutting of women’s and gender studies majors, and even women warned off being seen to be ‘too feminist’ if they want to pursue an academic career. In our unions, in what is probably a world first, feminists have been both President and Secretary of our trade union council since March 2017 when Sally McManus joined Ged Kearney as ACTU Secretary and President, respectively. However, women union activists seeking leadership roles still find that they are put into the ‘needs more training and mentoring’ box, while men are just given a go. The sexism in unions was identified long ago as being particularly pernicious because it was a site for working class men to wield power. Today, most union officials are no longer working class, but the men still resist yielding that site of power, and, interestingly, claim stereotyped working class credentials in doing so.
Stepping down This is my last Agenda editorial as I have served two terms as National President, and it has been an absolute honour and privilege to work fulltime on behalf of NTEU members. I thought it best though to give another woman a go – and specifically a (younger) woman academic straight from working in a university (as I was), who knows first-hand the contemporary issues and pressures in the sector. I started agitating as a feminist, union activist when I got my first professional job as a TAFE teacher nearly four decades ago. Much has changed, but not enough. Women have persisted in fighting for equity and equality, but men have also persisted in protecting their privilege and power. I’ll keep at it, as I know you will. Jeannie Rea is NTEU National President and editor of Agenda. jrea@nteu.org.au
NEWS
The Gender Pay Gap… and how Superannuation can help Talk of the gender pay gap continues (ad infinitum). It has just been announced it is the lowest in 20 years. Still, it is almost 50 years since the Conciliation and Arbitration Commission ruled on historic equal pay cases which would supposedly fix the gender pay gap. In higher education, it’s not ‘simply’ a matter of running an equal pay case based on work value. In our sector, the pay gap is more likely caused by differences in bonuses and loadings paid to men and women in the same roles, by the prevalence of insecure employment and by career breaks which stall women’s earnings and superannuation contributions.
What do we know? We know that the current gender pay gap in higher education is around 13%. We also know that just over one-third of university staff enjoy secure, ongoing work. This means that two-thirds of university staff don’t have a guarantee of earnings into the future. NTEU analysis of Government and Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) data shows that in 2017, 30% of university FTE positions were limited term contracts and 17.6% were casual. 2016 figures showed that 58.1% of casual staff were women, however there is no meaningful difference overall between the number of men and women engaged on fixed term contracts (except at the level of Deputy Vice Chancellor/Vice Chancellor). As Equal Pay Day approached at the time of writing (31 August 2018), WGEA were publicising a reduction in the all industries average pay gap – to a 14.6% gap in the average earnings of men and women. In 2017 the Agency found a total gender pay gap for all full time employees in Tertiary Education of 12.7%. This is one general figure however, and it does not take account of the many staff engaged for less than full-time hours.
It’s pretty simple that if women earn less overall than men, there will also be a gap in retirement incomes. Periods of parental leave without pay also generally mean a gap in superannuation contributions for women and sometimes career re-entry on parttime earnings can contribute to the income lag. Aside from NTEU representation in our industry super fund, Unisuper, we are working industrially to improve retirement incomes. In this round of bargaining NTEU has achieved the introduction of full industry employer superannuation contributions (17% of salary), for all fixed term staff. Of the 23 Agreements made so far, each includes this provision, with most phasing in the contribution at some stage during the life of the Agreement. This is a great outcome for staff on fixed term contracts and it will significantly increase their retirement savings. In terms of the gender pay gap overall, NTEU is trying to investigate what contributes to the gap in universities. We have partnered with a University to examine this issue in depth. There will be more information to come from this project.
UniSuper sessions UniSuper are running ‘Super essential for women’ sessions across university campuses between August and November to educate women members about the retirement gap and the factors which contribute to it. Go to: https://www.unisuper.com.au/learningcentre/seminars/Super-essentials-for-women?venue=& Susan Kenna, National Industrial Officer
Superannuation We know that women retire with less superannuation than men. In a summary of statistics released this month (August 2018), WGEA quote a staggering gap in retirement incomes between men and women of 42%.
Politics has a man problem
The recent decision of Liberal MP Julia Banks to not recontest her seat says a great deal about the toxic political environment that sees sexism, bullying and sexual harassment as standard political tactics. In terms of women’s parliamentary representation, Australia has moved from 15th place in the world in 1999 to 50th in 2018, largely due to conservative parties losing women. Indeed, former President of the Australian Human Rights Commission, Gillian Triggs, recently warned that equality for Australian women has worsened dramatically in the last decade, with high levels of sexual harassment in the workplace – and it seems the Australian Parliament is not immune. Recent examples include comments levelled by Liberal Democrats senator David Leyhonhjelm to Greens senator Sarah HansonYoung to “stop shagging men”, followed by further abuse when she confronted him over his remarks. But these are not isolated incidents; the blatant misogyny levelled at former PM Julia Gillard found form in extremism and vulgarity in and out of the House – and led to one of the greatest speeches ever made in Parliament on that very issue. Former MP Fiona Scott was complimented for her ‘sex appeal’ by then PM Tony Abbott (who was the subject of Gillard’s landmark speech), while MP Emma Husar was, by her own definition, ‘viciously slut shamed’ in a factional brawl that led to her resignation. Such sexism and toxicity in political life is a disincentive to women running for office. Coupled with the structural sexism that sees women often relegated to contesting marginal seats and a refusal to take on quotas by the conservatives, it’s no wonder we are losing ground. Terri MacDonald, Policy & Research Officer VOLUME 26 SEPTEMBER 2018
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NEWS
NTEU women’s Charter presented to ANU VC Following on from the establishment of the Women’s Action Network (WAN) at the ANU on International Women’s Day this year, our NTEU survey of women at the ANU identified several issues of concern, leading to the development of the WAN Charter.
Women in NTEU Leadership Alison Barnes has been elected National President and Gabe Gooding National Assistant Secretary, as the NTEU full time national leadership team shifts to two women out of three. While NTEU has always had a woman president – Di Zetlin, Carolyn Allport and Jeannie Rea – the National Assistant Secretary position has been held by men since the inaugural National Assistant Secretary, Kerry Lewis retired. Dr Barnes comes to the national presidency from working as a senior lecturer in the Department of Marketing and Management at Macquarie University. Alison got her first tenured job at Western Sydney University. Prior to that she worked as a casual at the University of Sydney and in casual and contract positions at UNSW. Alison’s employment history is similar to many academics, and she will bring the immediate and authentic experience of working in a university to the national role. At the time of writing, as NTEU Branch President, Alison was busy negotiating the Macquarie Enterprise Agreement. She, therefore, also has immediate experience from a Branch perspective, coupled with service as the NSW Division Assistant Secretary. Alison has conducted research into the service industry and employee resistance; trade unions and trade union strategy in higher education; and skill recognition across feminised industries such as early childhood education, and its impact on the gender pay gap in those industries. So she brings serious relevant scholarly experience to the National Office. Gabe Gooding is also bringing direct on the ground experience into the National Office, as she has spent the last few years staring down the Western Australian university employers as NTEU WA Division Secretary, culminating in the battle to restore an Enterprise Agreement at Murdoch University. She has steadfastly supported and empowered members, while campaigning against and negotiating with an employer hailed in federal parliament by the Coalition Minister for Education when they terminated the Agreement. Gabe has also served as NTEU National Vice-President (General Staff) and Division President when she worked as a professional scientist at UWA.
On 8 July 2018, the WAN presented our Charter to ANU Vice-Chancellor Prof Brian Schmidt in a brief ceremony in front of the ANU Chancellery Building. NTEU delegates spoke on our findings from talking to members and called for the ANU to commit to progressive change. Prof Schmidt accepted the Charter and stated his in principle support.
Foundation General Secretary Grahame McCulloch is succeeded by Matthew McGowan, who comes to the job from eight years as National Assistant Secretary. In addressing the recent Women’s Action Committee (WAC) meeting, Matt committed to continuing to support the WAC and resourcing WAC initiatives and activities.
Flexible working arrangements, career advancement and progression and insecure work were the top issues for ANU women. Other issues reported included sexual harassment, inequitable workloads, bullying, inadequate support for breastfeeding, women’s health, and parental leave arrangements. The survey results informed the development of the WAN Charter, which was refined at an open meeting of ANU staff in April. The final WAN Charter represents key overarching issues identified by women members that need to be prioritised and addressed at the ANU. The meeting also led to the establishment of a WAN Organising Committee with enthusiastic and committed members who wish to pursue this agenda for change. It is expected that the committee will drive progress towards achieving each of the goals in the charter through specific actions and campaigns. Bel Townsend and Cathy Day, ACT WAC representatives Right: Cathy Day and Bel Townsend present a very large copy of the WAN Charter to ANU Vice-Chancellor Brian Schmidt. Credit: Lachlan Clohesy
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VOLUME 26 SEPTEMBER 2018
We are in good hands. The new team starts on 16 October 2018. Jeannie Rea, (Outgoing) National President
NEWS
Clare McCarty Women in Leadership pilot project The Clare McCarty Women in Leadership program was piloted in South Australia from March 2017 to 2018. The Women’s Action Committee (WAC) drew inspiration from the late Dr Clare McCarty, a life-long activist, union leader, educator and mentor to many. In July 2016, Jennifer Fane and I (then SA WAC members) took the idea of a women in leadership mentorship program to the WAC. With endorsement from the WAC, support by the NTEU National Office and staff in the SA Division, a mentorship program was developed for women NTEU members, providing opportunities for leadership. An introductory full-day seminar involving all three Branches (University of Adelaide, Flinders University and University of South Australia), held in March 2017, included a keynote presentation by Jeannie Rea, NTEU National President, of an overview of gender segregation and power in universities and unions. A lively panel discussion ensued with Suzanne Franzway, Emeritus Professor, University of South Australia, Janet Giles, Lead Organiser, Public Service Association and Professor Mary Margaret Fonow, Professor of Women and Gender Studies, Arizona State University, USA. Each panellist offered insights into women and leadership as well as their experiences as women working in a male dominated, union environment. The focus of this program has been on building capacity so that more women, in particular those under-represented within the NTEU such as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, women for whom English is one of a number of spoken languages, women from the LGBTI community, and younger women could participate more prominently in the NTEU. A follow-up seminar, held in June 2017, enabled participants to take the next step of forming a 1:1 mentoring relationship providing an opportunity for newer members to talk informally with more experienced members.
The SA Division plans to continue with the program and to encourage a greater number of women to nominate for senior and leadership roles (in activist, delegate and elected positions within the Union) to support a more equitable representation of women. I am proud to have been a part of a pilot program that will no doubt lead to the implementation of future mentorship programs, within the NTEU, accruing more interest from women members and thereby improving gender diversity in elected leadership positions across the Union. Kate Borrett, University of Adelaide Branch, former SA WAC professional staff representative Find out more about the Clare McCarty Leadership Program at www.nteu.org.au/women/initiatives/clare_mccarty_leadership_ program Below: Clare McCarty speaking at a rally in Adelaide
The program was evaluated 12 months from its commencement. Since this time, a small team, from the SA Division, coordinated by Juliet Fuller (Branch Organiser, Flinders University) has worked with Helena GUID E FOR MENT ORS AND MENT EES Spyrou (National Education Officer) to develop a Guide for Mentors & Mentees and a Handbook for Branches and Divisions. The latter contains all of the things we’ve learned from running the pilot program in SA including a step-by step guide to planning and implementing a Women in Leadership program. Members can access helpful resources on how to run induction and orientation seminars, processes for connecting mentors with mentees, developing THE CLARE MCCARTY LEAD ERSHIP PROGRAM an evaluation, determining participant expectations, and links to a range of information about mentoring. nteu.org.au/w
NTEU WOMEN IN LEADER SHIP MENTORSHIP PROGRAM GUIDE FOR MENTORS AND MENTEES
omen
VOLUME 26 SEPTEMBER 2018
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Organised women can On 16–17 August, around 40 women from universities across Queensland participated in the second Queensland NTEU Women’s Conference. Under the banner ‘Organised Women Can...’ the conference participants examined challenges and opportunities facing women working in higher education, and how the Union women can effectively improve our members’ working lives. A strong focus on building networks was seen as a key factor, with participants exploring what this means in practical terms.
Di Zetlin, the founding President of the NTEU gave a wellresearched address at the conference dinner, held at Brisbane’s Greek Club, discussing employment patterns of women in higher education and trends in NTEU membership.
The conference commenced with a welcome to country by Senior Quandamooka elder, Uncle Bob Anderson. Queensland Division Secretary Michael McNally kicked off the conference with a question about the space and role for allies in contemporary feminism. National President, Jeannie Rea noted the need for women to have a space of their own, and discussed the lack of progress on issues facing women in the workplace.
Guest presenters on day two covered diverse topics:
This was followed by a keynote address from Ros McLennan, General Secretary of the Queensland Council of Unions about the growing proportion of women in unions, and the role they are playing in campaigns such as Change the Rules.
• Learning from the experiences of other unions.
Later in the day, recently-retired Division Organiser, Barb Williams and Industrial Officer, Noeline Rudland drew on several examples of how women organise within the Union. This fed a facilitated discussion about what we can learn from the past, what has worked and what has changed.
• The role of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women in union business. • The First Nations Workers Alliance. • Leadership programs for women in the union movement. • The challenges of ensuring better retirement incomes for women. • Women unionists networking across universities. The rubber hit the road in the afternoon, when participants actively put their minds to identifying better ways of organising together, using social media to greater effect, and planning for building our capacity to represent the interests of our women members. Sue Monk and Gwen Amankwah-Toa, Queensland WAC delegates Above: Conference participants supporting wage justice. (Credit: Sue Monk)
Djirri Djirri dancers As the 2018 national WAC meeting coincided with the NTEU’s annual national Aboriginal and Torres straits Islander (A&TSI) Forum, WAC representatives were invited to join the Forum for a performance by the Djirri Djirri (Willy Wagtail) dancers. The Djirri Djirri dancers were founded in Victoria’s Yarra Valley in 2013. Since then they have been maintaining traditional Woiwurrung/Wurundjeri culture through “contemporary interpretations of culture with the essence of traditional dance and ceremony”. Mandy Nicholson, a traditional custodian of Woiwurrung culture, has been crucial in the creation and ongoing success of the Djirri Djirri dancers, with some of the younger artists dancing and performing from just two years of age. Fundamental to the maintenance of culture and traditional dance, use of traditional language as part of performance is central to storytelling and performances. In the years since colonisation, official prohibitions forced A&TSI peoples to conceal language and cultural practices that had been fundamental since time in memoriam. Djirri Djirri performances tell traditional stories of creation, family and country, with traditional language forming the basis of dance and performance explanation. As a women’s only dance group, Djirri Djirri are successfully maintaining traditional performance and language, while simultaneously preserving and undertaking women’s business. They provide a culturally safe environment for undertaking and participating in women’s business to ensure culture is maintained into the future. Djirri Djirri and the role played in the Woiwurrung community is important and will ensure women’s business and traditional culture and language is kept safe in the hands of the appropriate custodians. Adam Frogley, National A&TSI Coordinator
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VOLUME 26 SEPTEMBER 2018
NEWS
NTEU Women Advocate for Action on Gendered Violence at Work In August, a delegation of NTEU women joined women union members from across the movement to advocate for action on gendered violence in the workplace in meetings with Victorian State MPs at Parliament House. Gendered violence is defined by Victorian Trades Hall Council (VTHC) as: Actions and behaviours which express power inequalities between women and men and cause physical, sexual, psychological or economic harm to women. Gendered violence is violence perpetrated against women because they are women. It also includes violence perpetuated against those who do not conform to dominant gender stereotypes or those who do not conform to socially accepted gender roles. In small groups with people from different unions, NTEU members and staff met with a series of different MPs. In these meetings, members described their experiences of gendered violence at work and discussed actions the Government could take to eliminate it. The approaches to eliminating workplace gendered violence we discussed with MPs were actions the Government could take as an employer, as a purchaser of goods and services, as an influencer, and as a legislator. They included working with unions to achieve gender equity in the public service; as a prerequisite to receiving government funding, requiring organisations to implement plans with measurable targets and reporting requirements to achieve gender equity in their organisations; working with the union movement to introduce a ‘Respectful Relationships’ program for workplaces in Victoria; advertising campaigns; a Gender Equality Act with enforceable targets; and a Gender Equality Watchdog.
These approaches had been developed in part at the Union Women Changing the Rules Conference in June. NTEU members and staff who attended the conference participated in a workshop with members from United Voice in which we discussed actions on gendered violence that we could put to State MPs in August. We also participated in workshops to develop our skills to challenge gendered violence at work, including workshops on women in bargaining teams, having persuasive conversations with our MPs, organising in our workplaces, and on a tool to assess gender pay inequality. A recent win in the VTHC campaign to stop gendered violence at work was announced at the conference: WorkSafe had agreed to recognise gendered violence as a workplace health and safety hazard, to train inspectors in how to investigate incidents in workplaces, and to certify a gendered violence health and safety representative refresher course produced by the union movement. It was fun to get together with sisters from across the movement, and inspiring to listen to them speak about their work in different sectors in our meetings with MPs. Amelia Sully, NTEU Monash Branch Industrial Organiser Above (L–R): Annette Herrera, Clem Bastow, Sorina Grasso, Chloe Gaul and Amelia Sully in front of a portrait of the late Victorian Premier Joan Kirner. Below: Participants on the steps of the Victorian Parliament.
VOLUME 26 SEPTEMBER 2018
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NEWS
NTEU monitors action on Change the Course Recommendations In 2017 the Australian Human Rights Commission released its report into sexual harassment and assault in Australian Universities. The report made a number of recommendations that were endorsed by Universities Australia and all universities either agreed to implement in principle or in full. The Union has been monitoring the implementation of the recommendations through our Branches. While supportive of the report we have a number of concerns with the resourcing of these recommendations and the impact on staff, who for the most part appear to be expected to undertake additional training and duties on top of existing roles. We also share student concerns on the use of outside contractors to implement support services and the effectiveness of many of the ‘tick box’ consent modules being implemented.
jobs for women film project Funds raised from the NSW Bluestocking Week trivia night supported the Jobs for Women film project. Jobs for Women tells the story of how a small group of women came together to fight one of Australia’s biggest companies at the time, Australian Iron and Steel, later known as BHP. We were fortunate to have Robynne Murphy travel to Sydney to attend our trivia night and speak directly about her experience with the campaign and the making of the documentary. As a young activist, Robynne was one of the founders for the Jobs for Women campaign and obtained employment as a steelworker in the 1980s. She was also one of the first women to file a complaint with the Anti-Discrimination Board. For those of us who grew up in the Illawarra between the 60s and the 90s, the Port Kembla steelworks loomed large, not just with the landscape of smoke stacks, blast furnaces, and water towers but as the primary source of income for many families. In the early 80s employment opportunities for working class women and for migrant women in the Illawarra were extremely limited. For many the only options were sewing piecework at home or travelling to Sydney each day. This was no easy feat for anyone, especially if you had children to get to and from school. But there were jobs in Wollongong. Between 1977 and 1980, Australian Iron and Steel employed 4,000 new iron workers. Of that number, just 58 were women. They maintained a waiting list of candidates that had 2,000 women applicants listed, some of whom had put their names down seven years earlier.
The long and hard-fought campaign of the Jobs for Women group led to action under the Ant-Discrimination Act and led to the employment of over 150 women ironworkers. Later, when the downturn hit the steel industry, retrenchments were initiated an the ‘last on, first off basis’ a generally accepted principle at that time. The women filed further complaints with the Anti-Discrimination Board on the basis that had they not been subject to the original discrimination and had they been hired when they had originally applied for the jobs, they would not have been retrenched. Furthermore, it remains a concern that the experiences of The claim was successful and despite repeated appeals all the university staff have not been investigated, despite being in the way to the High Court, BHP was forced to acknowledge the same workplace environment as students. The Union will highlight discrimination and pay damages. the impact of sexism, sexual harassment and assault on university staff in our submission to the National Inquiry into Sexual Harassment The film is in the final stages of editing and promises to be in Australian workplaces by the Australian Human Rights Commission. a great documentary about real women, unionism and challenging big business.
Principles for Respectful Supervisory Relationships
Lauren Wilson, University of Sydney For more about Jobs for Women see
One of the findings of the Change the Course Report www.jobsforwomenfilm.com related to postgraduate students who reported sexual harassment and assault in supervisory relationships. As a result the NTEU worked closely with Universities Australia, CAPA and the Australian Council of Graduate Research on a set of principles to underpin the relationship between an academic supervisor and their research student. Released this August, the Principles for Respectful Supervisory Relationships state that a romantic, sexual or personal relationship between a supervisor and postgraduate student raises questions over consent, academic integrity and conflicts of interest, and as a result, alternative supervisory arrangements must be made. Furthermore, the Principles underline what considerations institutions need to make to assist students who wish to disclose incidents of sexual harassment and assault, whilst ensuring procedural fairness for all parties. The NTEU hopes that these Principles will contribute to influencing changes in attitudes and behaviours of not only those engaged in the supervisory relationship, but also reinforce universities’ responsibilities for maintaining a safe and respectful work and study environment. It is the strong view of the NTEU that these Principles should be adopted by all institutions, and the Union has also updated our own policy to reflect the current focus and expression of the guidelines. Terri MacDonald, Policy & Research Officer
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NEWS
Power dressing photo shoot & feminist salutes The Emily McPherson Building at RMIT is an early 20th century neo-Greek structure situated next to the Eight Hour Day monument on the corner of Russell and Victoria Streets. The building began as a women’s domestic science college and later trained teachers in domestic economy. This former site of female domestic education situated next to the monument that pays homage to the beginning of the 8 hour work day movement in Australia was the meeting space for an amazing Bluestocking Week event in mid-August that honoured both the legacy and continued struggles of unionists and women in the academy. The RMIT Bluestocking event titled ‘Power Dressing and Feminist Salutes’ says it all. RMIT Branch partnered with the Feminist Educators Against Sexism (#FEAS) collective for an afternoon of feminist empowerment. The two #FEAS founders, Dr Emily Gray and Prof Mindy Blaise presented the state of play regarding female academics and the glass ceiling, the boys’ club mentality of universities and faculties followed by ingenuous tactics to challenge the gendered status quo. Several of these tactics include building personal awareness, citing other female academics and asking women panellists the first question at conferences and male dominated panels. Over lunch approximately 20 members opened up and shared their personal experiences of covert and overt sexism in universities and their own responses and tactics. This was followed by Emily and Mindy leading the group through two feminist empowerment acts. The first was taking a photo in the power jacket. This custommade masculine shaped jacket, Emily explained, symbolises the armour we must wear in a corporatised academy. The inside of the jacket was a leopard print another symbolic fabric highlighting how older women are portrayed as predatory or cougars for not conforming to ‘age-appropriate’ behaviour. Members picked either the leopard print side of the jacket or the metallic side of the jacket for their photo as a member improvised being a DJ and played dance songs on their Spotify phone app to get the group in the mood for a massive photo-shoot. Poses ranged from stone-faced warrior stances to fists of power or victor poses. The second empowerment act involved writing a postcard or a ‘feminist salute’ to a feminist who was a personal inspiration. Several members took the time to write a feminist salute and thank an inspiring woman that had touched their lives. RMIT Branch President, Dr Mel Slee reflected on the event afterwards saying that this event “had drawn out NTEU members from a very diverse cohort. We had early career researchers, students, professional staff and STEMM professors attend. This was a resounding success that we will be sure to repeat. It clearly appealed to a wide range of women unionists!” Women have come far in the academy from the days of the early Emily Mac and will continue to go further through the power of unions and solidarity. Annette Herrera, RMIT Branch Organiser Posing in the power jacket: (top) Emily Gray & Mel Slee; (middle) Jenny Kennedy & Lahi Paddalgoda; (bottom) Kanchan Aggarwal & Peta Murray. To learn more about #FEAS many art-based feminist interventions check out https://feministeducatorsagainstsexism.com VOLUME 26 SEPTEMBER 2018
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Bluestocking week
Bluestocking women Change the rules
Terri MacDonald NTEU
Bluestocking Week is now in its sixth year and the NTEU, together with the National Union of Students (NUS) has seen the event grow in both scope and size. With more university campuses participating each year, Bluestocking Week is now viewed as an annual event on the university calendar and an opportunity for women in universities and in the broader community to celebrate achievements while highlighting the issues we are still struggling with today. This year’s theme was Bluestocking Women Change the Rules, which tied into the broader ACTU campaign to Change the Rules. All across the country, women on university campuses celebrated women who challenged the status quo of ingrained patriarchal structures to push for access and equity –in education, the workplace, in our communities, and politically. While these women broke new ground and did indeed change the rules, their struggle for both recognition and agency continues today as we push to pay equity, secure employment and the eradication of gendered violence and of sexism.
we can go to university, pursue careers, be equal under the law, vote and enter parliament, own property, maintain custody of our children, open bank accounts and so many other critical things denied to
19th century women, and indeed to most women for much of the 20th century, and still to some women today, For an overview of all Bluestocking week activities see: www.nteu.org.au/women/bluestockingweek/events
The events around the country were varied and intersectional, but all promoted the broader theme of women’s activism. Activities included a two day women’s conference, panels and morning teas in Queensland, an art exhibition, “power dressing” photo shoot and a guided walks on country in Victoria, fund raising dinners and stalls in South Australia and Northern Territory, feminist trivia nights and panel discussions on industrial issues in New South Wales and the ACT, and breakfast seminars and movie nights in Tasmania and Western Australia. NTEU National President Jeannie Rea, in her last months at president, spoke at several events (sometimes in two states on the same day!), promoting the Bluestocking Week theme and encouraging women’s activism in unions more broadly. Jeannie’s key message was that while this year’s theme is “Women Change the Rules”, supporting the ACTU’s campaign to change unfair industrial laws, we should remember that our forebears, the Bluestocking women broke down the barriers and indeed changed the laws. Changes that meant
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Above: NTEU VU Branch, Women’s Collective and Boondani Balluk at ‘Take A Walk With Us’ event.
bluestocking week
Clockwise from top: Bluestocking Week event at Macquarie University, NSW; NTEU women at the University of Canberra participated in Bluestocking Bingo; Jess Munday at the Tasmanian Division event; Juliet Fuller, Darlene McNaughton (WAC) Janet Giles at the SA BSW dinner; Sylvia Klonaris, Janet Sincock, Donelle Cross and Jeannie Rea at BSW in Darwin.
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bluestocking SECTIONweek
Clockwise from top left: WA Bluestocking Week breakfast; Winners of the ACT Division’s 2nd Annual Bluestocking Week Feminist Trivia Night; Bluestocking Week event in Tasmania; Noeline Rudland, Annette Veness and Barb Williams at the Qld Women’s Conference; Gabe Gooding, WA Division Secretary, at the WA BSW breakfast; Agnes Bosanquet (Macquarie) and Louise Fitzgerald (UNSW) at Bluestocking Week event at UNSW.
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GENDER EQUITY
Domestic violence Leave Scorecard
Susan Kenna NTEU
Round 7 bargaining has seen an increase in provisions around Domestic Violence (DV) Leave. In the interim, the Fair Work Commission has inserted clauses which provide 5 days unpaid leave to all employees (including casual staff) into our modern awards. Though Australian workers were hoping for paid leave provisions, these Award clauses will at least improve the standards against which Agreements must now be made. This scorecard is the status of our Enterprise Agreements at late August 2018. University
Dedicated additional paid leave
* indicates a Round 7 Agreement
Confidentiality
Referral to support services
Training & paid time off
Access to flexible work arrangement
Additional info
ACU
Entitled to 10 days DV Leave. In addition staff can apply for additional leave with the amount and type determined between the staff member and Director or HR.
✖
✖
✖
✖
Has separate clause dealing with DV Leave.
Adelaide*
Up to 5 days leave per calendar year by accessing up to 3 days Special Paid Leave and up to 2 days additional paid leave.
✔
✖
✖
✖
Has separate clause dealing with Family Violence Leave.
ANU
DV Leave determined by staff member’s individual circumstances through consultation. No reasonable request refused.
✔
✔
✖
✔
Has separate clause dealing with DV Leave.
Canberra
Up to 10 days leave. Can make an application for special consideration of additional leave to be determined by the individual’s situation.
✔
✖
✖
✔
Domestic violence clause under ‘miscellaneous leave.’
CQU*
10 days paid non-cumulative leave per year upon request. Access to sick, carer’s, annual leave or leave without pay.
✖
✖
✖
✔
Has separate clause dealing with Domestic and Family Violence Leave.
CDU
Specific and Additional paid leave of 10 days per annum for employee experiencing domestic, family or sexual violence. Additional leave may come from PL and then AL. If have exhausted PL and have < 20 days AL, VC may allow access to other leave entitlements.
✖
✖
✖
✖
Has separate clause dealing with domestic, family and sexual violence.
CSU
Can use up to 10 days Personal Leave p/a if experiencing DV or supporting member of immediate family who is experiencing DV. If PL exhausted employee experiencing DV can access up to 12 days paid special leave p/a.
✖
✖
✖
✖
Part of Personal Leave and special leave provisions.
Curtin*
May take Personal Leave and Special Personal Leave for family or domestic violence matters.
✖
✖
✖
✔
Part of Personal Leave and special leave provisions.
Deakin*
Entitled to paid special leave at the Vice-Chancellor’s discretion and may also exercise existing leave entitlements. Includes leave for casual staff.
✖
✖
✖
✖
Has separate clause dealing with domestic, family and sexual violence.
ECU*
May take Personal Leave for family or domestic violence matters or to provide care/support for family experiencing effects of violence. Access to unpaid carer’s leave for the effects of family or domestic violence. An employee experiencing family or domestic violence will be entitled to access, at short notice, personal/carer’s leave, annual leave, leave without pay, long service leave, and where applicable accrued flexitime and time off in lieu of overtime.
✖
✖
✖
✖
Has separate clause dealing with Domestic and Family Violence Leave.
continued overpage... VOLUME 26 SEPTEMBER 2018
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GENDER EQUITY
Domestic violence Leave Scorecard University
Dedicated additional paid leave
* indicates a Round 7 Agreement
Confidentiality
continued...
Referral to support services
Training & paid time off
Access to flexible work arrangement
Additional info
Flinders
5 days Special paid leave.
✖
✖
✖
✖
FUA
Entitled to up to 5 days paid leave per calendar year. In addition can also access Personal Leave, AL or leave without pay once the 5 days are exhausted. Additional leave with pay may also be available upon application.
✔
✖
✖
✔
Has separate clause dealing with DV Leave.
Griffith*
Up to 10 days leave each calendar year. Extends definition to include effects on children. Access to accumulated sick leave to attend to necessary related matters. Access to leave without pay, recreation leave or long service.
✖
✖
✖
✖
Has separate clause dealing with Domestic and Family Violence Leave.
JCU*
Up to 10 days leave each calendar year. Access to Personal and Carer’s Leave.
✔
✖
✖
✖
Has separate clause dealing with Domestic and Family Violence Leave.
La Trobe*
Up to 5 working days of special paid leave, this leave is in addition to other existing leave entitlements. Casual staff covered if were scheduled to work on that day(s). Additional period of paid leave if exhausted prior to requiring employee to access accrued Personal Leave or recreational leave or leave without pay.
✖
✖
✖
✔
Has separate clause dealing with DV Leave.
Macquarie
20 days paid leave. Can access Personal Leave.
✖
✖
✖
✔
Has separate clause dealing with DV Leave. University will develop guidelines within 6 months of Agreement, in conjunction with CC.
Melbourne*
Paid leave per occasion. Includes for casuals who were scheduled to work.
✔
✔
✔
✔
Has separate clause dealing with DV Leave.
Monash
Access to accrued sick leave. Quantum will be determined via consultation with supervisor or designated FV contact officer, and approved by ED or nominated HR delegate.
✖
✖
✖
✔
Murdoch*
Up to 5 working days non-accumulative paid leave. Casual staff can access 5 unpaid days. Access to Personal Leave.
✔
✖
✖
✖
Notre Dame 10 days special leave for full and part-time staff (pro
✖
✖
✖
✖
Newcastle
Can access Personal Leave (up to 25 days in 12 months). LWOP may be granted in addition. Can access carer’s leave if immediate family/household member is experiencing effects of DV.
✔
✔
✖
✔
QUT
✖
✖
✖
✖
✖
RMIT*
RMIT will refer the employee to the Employee Assistance Program and consider any request made by the employee for paid or unpaid leave. Includes leave for casual staff.
✔
✔
✖
✔
Has separate clause dealing with Family Violence Leave.
✔
Has separate clause dealing with Family Violence Leave.
✔
Has separate clause dealing with Domestic and Family Violence Leave.
Has separate clause dealing with DV Leave.
rata)
SCU*
Access to 15 days paid leave per annum (pro-rata for part-time staff). Access to personal, carer’s and special leave.
Swinburne*
5 days Special Paid Leave, this will be in addition to other existing leave entitlements. Clause applies to all staff, including sessional staff. Additional Leave: Where the period of leave is inadequate, additional paid leave will be available upon application. The amount of leave provided will be determined by the individual’s situation through consultation.
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VOLUME 26 SEPTEMBER 2018
Guidelines to be developed
✔
✖
✔
Has separate clause dealing with DV Leave.
GENDER EQUITY
Domestic violence Leave Scorecard University
Dedicated additional paid leave
* indicates a Round 7 Agreement
Confidentiality
continued...
Referral to support services
Training & paid time off
Access to flexible work arrangement
Additional info
Sydney*
Up to 20 days each year, leave does not accrue.
✖
✖
✖
✔
Has separate clause dealing with Domestic and Family Violence Leave.
UNE
Approved by Director of HR on a case by case basis.
✖
✔
✖
✔
Has separate clause dealing with DV Leave JCC will develop guidelines to supplement the clause.
UniSA
Staff member may access family responsibility, personal, carer’s recreation and/or LSL. In addition may apply for special leave, with our without pay
✖
✖
✖
✔
UNSW
Up to 10 days, can be consecutive, single or fraction of a day. Unpaid leave if supporting a person who is experiencing DV.
✖
✖
✖
✔
Has separate clause dealing with DV Leave if supporting a person experiencing DV may request unpaid leave and/or Personal Leave or witness leave as applicable.
UQ*
Up to 10 days’ leave as Special Leave. Paid or unpaid, at discretion of University.
✔
✖
✖
✖
Has separate clause dealing with DV Leave.
USC
Up to 10 days p/a paid leave. May also use accumulated sick leave.
✖
✖
✖
✖
Domestic violence clause under ‘other leave’.
USQ*
Entitled to 5 days paid leave, as Special leave. Access to personal/carer’s leave for those providing support to someone experiencing DV.
✖
✖
✖
✖
Arrangements for support in employee domestic and family violence support procedure.
UTAS*
Up to 5 days paid Family Violence Leave per year. Also applied to casual staff. Additional Family Violence Leave may utilise their personal/carer’s leave accrual.
✖
✖
✖
✖
Family violence clause under personal/carer’s leave.
UTS*
20 days non-cumulative. Access to sick, personal, annual, LSL and LWOP.
✖
✖
✖
✔
Has separate clause dealing with DV Leave.
UWA*
Access, at short notice, leave without pay, annual leave, personal/carer’s leave, long service leave, and short leave.
✖
✖
✖
✔
Has separate clause dealing with Domestic and Family Violence Leave.
VU
Entitled to paid special leave (amount not specified) and may use existing leave entitlements.
✖
✖
✖
✖
Separate clause – situations of Domestic or Family Violence.
Wollongong
Can access up to 8 days Family Leave (and may be granted additional 4 days from sick leave accrual).
✖
✖
✖
✖
WSU*
Up to 10 days per year paid leave. May also apply for additional paid Domestic and Family Violence Leave.
✔
✔
✖
✔
Has separate clause dealing with Domestic and Family Violence Leave. An employee who is supporting a person experiencing domestic and family violence, and who requires time off work for that purpose, may request Leave Without Pay and/or apply for Personal Leave under clause 38: Personal Leave, or Witness Leave under clause 41: Jury duty and witnesses, as appropriate.
VOLUME 26 SEPTEMBER 2018
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GENDER EQUITY SECTION
#MeToo – No justice without sex?
Maree Pardy Deakin
“No woman escapes the relentless misogyny of the academy.”1 “We need to support, stand with, and stand by, those students [and staff] who are fighting to survive hostile institutions.”2 “Without sex, claims of harassment, abuse and bullying won’t cut through.”3 In October 2017, only two months after the launch of Change the Course: National Report on Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment at Australian Universities, #MeToo sparked a Hollywood fire that set the industry, social media and the world ablaze. Change the Course paints a damning picture of the university sector, finding that one in 10 female university students had been sexually assaulted in the previous two years and less than one in 20 believed their university was doing enough to support victims. #MeToo has, in some ways, kept the issues of Change the Course alive in universities, because for all that it is, #MeToo is, above all, a campaign of complaint and outrage about the violence and harms inflicted by and in workplaces. The following commentary on #MeToo in universities is a proposition and a question. I propose that the success of #MeToo, aided most powerfully by mainstream and social media, can in large part be attributed to ‘sex’. In the case of #MeToo it is apparent that there can be no potential justice without sex. Without sex at its centre, the everyday insidious cultures of harassment, bullying, sexist, racist and abusive behaviours that constitute the most pervasive abuse in universities and other workplaces today, continue to go unnoticed or unnoteworthy. In some paradoxical and unintended ways, #MeToo (and the Change the Course report) have served to invisiblise this.
No justice without sex #MeToo and Change the Course have required sex to point out the unjust and occasionally violent cultures of domination that characterise universities. The question that arises is this: are complaints about harmful experiences at the hands of institutionalised university cultures that
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produce and perpetuate harassment, assault, abuse, bullying and exclusion, only acted upon when they manifest at the level of sex? In the absence of sex are complaints or grievances neither interesting nor alarming enough to act on? Let’s be clear though that even when sex is involved, justice is never guaranteed although there is at least a hope (on the part of the victim) or perhaps a pretence (on the part of the university) that justice will ensue. Sexual harassment, sexual assault and sexual abuse are monstrous acts of violence. They should be called out and stamped out. These acts and behaviours occur in and through university cultures of domination that privilege and promote rank, prestige and hierarchies of superiority. Justice does not usually include any discussion of how this might or must change. My point though is this. Unless complaints against abuses of power and rank include claims about sex or physical violence, they will have difficulty penetrating the university machine. I know this from personal experience. Some years ago, I lodged a complaint at a university against a professor who, I claimed, engaged in systematic campaigns of bullying, professional misconduct and harassment over a period of several years. I was told on many occasions that if I could provide even one incident of sexual transgression, sexual harassment or assault the case would be more powerful, and make its way through investigatory procedures more seamlessly. Unrelenting sexist (rather than sexual) harassment and gendered bullying didn’t quite cut it, but sex might.
The Ronell vs Reitman case The power of sex to carry a complaint is forcefully evident in a high-profile US case which became public in August 2018 through the New York Times article titled, ‘What happens to #MeToo when a feminist is accused?’ In some academic circles this case has created the greatest storm since #MeToo. Avital Ronell, a professor of German and comparative literature at New York University was found, after investigation, to have sexually harassed a former graduate student Nimrod Reitman. Ronell is a lesbian in her 60s. Reitman is a gay man in his 30s. Reitman complained that for three years Ronell sent him unwanted romantic emails and insisted that he reply with similar romantic flourish. Reitman is now suing NYU for failing to act on his complaint. His legal complaint, freely available online, is a 56-page story (complete with chapter headings of events). Reitman complained of unwanted sexual attention and physical contact with a powerful mentor who, he claims, pressured him to submit. The professor argued that she thought the student’s participation in the relationship was consensual and welcomed. The weight of informed and analytical commentary on this matter falls heavily in favour of the finding that Ronell abused her power, sexually harassed and bullied Reitman, and failed to conduct an appropriate professional relationship with a graduate student. The leaking of the now notorious ‘Butler Letter’ has added a new and insidious
GENDER EQUITY
element to the case. A letter to NYU’s president, signed by 51 academics including luminaries Judith Butler, Gayatari Spivak and Joan W. Scott, argued that Ronell’s “brilliant scholarship” and her “international standing and reputation” qualified her to receive particular, perhaps exceptional consideration by the University in regard to the charges. Butler has since issued a restrained apology for the letter. The salacious aspects of this case have received widespread exposure. We can read in the Times for example about an afternoon in Paris when Ronell invited Reitman to her room and then “pulled him to her bed” and “put my hands onto her breasts, and was pressing herself – her buttocks – onto my crotch… She was kissing me, kissing my hands, kissing my torso.” Or when Ronell stayed in Reitman’s apartment and despite his objections, slept with him in his bed and “groped and kissed him each night for nearly a week.” Ronell denies all allegations of sexual contact and emphasises that NYU did not find her guilty of sexual assault. It did however find her guilty of sexual harassment. It suspended her without pay for one year. While the erotic aspects of the case have been most prominent, some commentators are now urging that these be put aside, to focus on the real issues at play. Corey Robin, professor of political science at
CUNY, says in The Chronicle of Higher Education, the erotic aspects of this case obscure the fundamental issue of power. Sex was only one part of the harassment with the larger and more significant claims relating to the control Ronell exercised over Reitman’s time and life, demands which went beyond legitimate bounds of advisor and graduate student. The issue of sex, he says, always clouds these discussions of institutional power. Robin’s astute analysis is one of the most compelling to break through the noise. This whole case is, he says, an instance of a “pervasive imbalance of power in academe,” in which those in the academy are forced to navigate the demands of some professors who are often volatile or unpredictable in order to “ensure our position, to preserve our place.” The boring story here is one of insidious cultures of power, rank, prestige, abuse and exploitation. This is the boring, unsexy truth of universities. The case by Reitman however could not have been made so effectively without the sex. Indeed, Laura Kipnis points out in The Guardian, that variations on the word ‘sex’ are deployed more than 90 times in Reitman’s 56-page lawsuit. A case about the boring but agreed upon domination and exploitation in universities, would not sufficiently crack academic institutionality. Complaints about control, abuse,
exploitation and lying are not enough; they require sex. It is unsurprising therefore that #MeToo and Change the Course have sex at their centre. They are important campaigns that seek justice in workplaces, demanding an end to misogynist cultures of coercion and exploitation. They exploded and took hold through the power of sex, leaving absent from their vision the experiences of those who are subjected to ordinary, everyday, workplace domination, exploitation, control and coercion. In Australia there have been attempts to raise these issues such as through #metooanthro and #metoosociology, but so far they are waiting in the wings, weighing up when and how to intervene, knowing full well that when they do, potential careers may be lost and justice may never be delivered. Dr Maree Pardy is a lecturer in International and Community Development, Deakin University Above: Avital Ronell (Source: YouTube) and Nimrod Reitman (Source: Facebook) 1. Andrea Long Chu, 30 August 2018, “I worked with Avital Ronell. I believe her accuser,” The Chronicle of Higher Education. 2. Sara Ahmed, 29 June 2015, “Against Students,” The New Inquiry. 3. Maree Pardy, personal communication with herself. Often.
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GENDER EQUITY
Barriers still to equality in higher ed
Much has changed since the first generation of women pushed their way into universities well over a century ago, yet women still face barriers to equality. While the proportion of women higher education students keeps increasing, women and men still have different education paths leading to different outcomes, which is also reflected in the careers of women staff. Women now constitute almost 60% of successful undergraduate and postgraduate course completions, yet gender segregation across educational fields remains stark. According to the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA), women’s representation in male-dominated fields has actually declined since 2001, particularly in information technology; while the proportion of men in the female-dominated fields of education and health remains largely unchanged. Men have increased participation in creative arts courses, and women in agriculture, environmental and related studies, which are both employment growth areas. However, much of that growth is in part-time and precarious jobs.
The smallest difference in starting salaries are in medicine, social work and communications, where there is relative gender balance in courses. Unfortunately though while women and men take on business, accounting and management in equal numbers , men are likely to make more from graduation.
Whilst women and men share similar rates of graduate employment (within four months of graduation) as soon as they graduate women earn less than men in 17 out of 19 fields of study, and nine out of 13 industries. So dentistry, pharmacy and engineering are still good prospects, but while women have always pursued dentistry and pharmacy, women still have to make their way through overwhelmingly male dominated engineering courses.
Gendered jobs reflected in universities
Men are still likely to be paid more on graduation than women in agriculture, architecture, maths and science jobs. This is particularly bad news considering the focus on encouraging women into STEMM at school and university. The further bad news is that the employment prospects of graduates in STEMM are well below other fields. We may need more people; doing STEMM jobs, but these jobs simply do not exist. Staff cuts and a deterioration in secure jobs in STEMM in universities, CSIRO, government and research institutes do not help in encouraging school girls (and boys) into STEMM fields.
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While postgraduate salaries are significantly higher for all, the median overall postgraduate gender pay gap is 16.5%. The current national gender pay gap is 14.6%, and across all the education and training sector it has risen to 10.6%, which is though considerably less than the nearly 32% in financial and insurance services.
Disappointing, but not surprising is that employment and career paths within universities continue to face the gender occupational segregation issues in both academic and professional jobs. Consequently, the work done by many women in universities is not valued as it should be because it remains (in Australia) ‘women’s work.’ Unfortunately, while we now know there is no scientific basis to prejudices faced by the first generations of women who entered university, prejudicial attitudes still hang around. The ‘bluestockings’ had to deal with an all-male professoriate writing and presenting courses that were highly sexist with presumptions about women’s physical and intellectual capabilities. Women have had to fight their way into academia, and then to challenge the disciplinary ‘canons’. This struggle
is far from over, and we are still a long way from gender-inclusivity across the curriculum. Alongside this, sexist attitudes and behaviours remain in course content (including what is included and what is absent). Women still have to be pioneers in some disciplinary fields, while men continue to progress through academic careers in women dominated fields. A year ago, after decades of protest from women students, the Human Rights Commission report on the prevalence of sexual violence towards students on campus confirmed a key obstacle. Attitudes and behaviours towards women by some men remained at best disrespectful and worst abusive, and universities had not made their campuses safe and positive enough places to study or work. More women than men now enter the academic workforce, but women are still less than one third of the professoriate. Despite the university professional workforce being almost two-thirds women and the success of equity strategies over the past two decades, women’s career advancement seems to have stalled and men still predominate in senior roles. The scourge of insecure employment across the sector is also diminishing the value of university jobs and eradicating gains made towards gender equity. Jeannie Rea, National President
GENDER EQUITY
australian gender & higher education stats 2018 the average gender pay gap is now
14.6%
an improvement of 0.7% since nov 2017. at tHis rate, women will achieve parity in 17 years. by sector: lowest = education & training 10.6% highest = finance & insurance 31.9%
percentage of graduates entering workforce within 4 months of graduating Source: Quality Indicators for Learning and Teaching (QILT) (2017), Graduate Outcome Survey National Report.
87.7%
93.1% 84.2%
7.9% 85.2%
Part time
16.5%
13.0%
Full time
71.2%
71.2%
91.7% 4.4% 87.3%
90.7%
90.6%
10.4%
10.1% 80.5%
80.3%
employers that have conducted a remuneration gap analysis within the last 12 months
Source: WGEA data cube
29.3%
undergraduate
postgrad (coursewk)
architecture & built environment law & paralegal studies Humanities, culture & social sciences psycHology Business & management creative arts pharmacy agriculture & environmental studies science & mathematics Health services & support rehaBilitation computing & information systems nursing teacHer education median medicine social work communications engineering
teaching & researcH 47.2%
56.0%
Tertiary education
postgraduate gender pay gap by sector agriculture & environmental studies engineering Business & management median computing & information systems medicine Health services & support Humanities, culture & social sciences psycHology teacHer education architecture & built environment law & paralegal studies science & mathematics social work nursing communications rehaBilitation creative arts Source: WGEA analysis of Quality Indicators for Learning and Teaching (QILT) (2017), pharmacy Graduate Outcome Survey National Report.
19.7%
13.0% 7.9% 7.6% 5.7% 5.2% 4.8% 4.6% 4.2% 3.9% 3.4% 3.4% 3.3% 3.2% 2.5% 1.8% 1.4% 1.1% 0.0% -2.4%
women in the university workforce all fte staFf
All industries
postgrad (researcH)
undergraduate gender pay gap by sector
36.5%
Source: NTEU analysis from Department of Education and Training (2016).
researcH only 47.4%
teaching only 56.0%
16.7% 16.5% 16.5% 14.8% 12.9% 12.5% 11.4% 8.6% 7.8% 7.3% 6.8% 6.2% 5.4% 5.0% 4.1% 2.4% 1.2% -9.4%
vice-chancellors
Female
Male
general/ proFessional 64.0%
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STEMM SECTION
Athena Swan: support for women in stemm Science in Australia Gender Equity (SAGE) Initiative is a partnership between the Australian Academy of Science (AAS) and the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering (ATSE). SAGE’s objective is to improve gender equity in science, technology, engineering, mathematics and medicine (STEMM) in the Australian higher education and research sector, and is looking to do this by building an effective Athena SWAN model for Australia. The Athena SWAN Charter originated in the UK and Ireland, and Australia is the first country outside of these founding countries to adopt the charter and program. Athena SWAN is based on ten key principles that, as part of the Athena SWAN program, institutions must commit to adopting within their policies, practices, action plans and culture. The ten principles of the Athena SWAN Charter are:
tracts for the retention and progression of staff in academia, particularly women. • We commit to tackling the discriminatory treatment often experienced by transgender people. • We acknowledge that advancing gender equality demands commitment and action from all levels of the organisation and in particular active leadership from those in senior roles.
• We acknowledge that academia cannot reach its full potential unless it can benefit from the talents of all. • We commit to advancing gender equality in academia, in particular addressing the loss of women across the career pipeline and the absence of women from senior academic, professional and support roles. • We commit to addressing unequal gender representation across academic disciplines and professional and support functions. In this we recognise disciplinary differences including the particularly high loss rate of women in science, technology, engineering, mathematics and medicine (STEMM). • We commit to tackling the gender pay gap. • We commit to removing the obstacles faced by women, in particular, at major points of career development and progression including the transition from PhD into a sustainable academic career. • We commit to addressing the negative consequences of using short-term con-
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• We commit to making and mainstreaming sustainable structural and cultural changes to advance gender equality, recognising that initiatives and actions that support individuals alone will not sufficiently advance equality. • All individuals have identities shaped by several different factors. We commit to considering the intersection of gender and other factors wherever possible. • Athena SWAN has an international reputation for creating a gender inclusive workplace, with accredited institutions demonstrating a competitive edge in attracting the best scientists. The Athena SWAN website notes that a House of Commons Science and Technology Committee report in the UK, Women in Scientific Careers, found that
the Athena SWAN Charter is “…the most comprehensive and practical scheme to improve academics’ careers by addressing gender inequity”. Other independent evaluations in the UK are cited by the program as finding that women scientists employed in organisations participating in the Athena SWAN Charter experienced greater career satisfaction and fairness in the workload allocation, and increased opportunities for training and development. In Australia, while numbers of women undertaking studies in STEMM overall have improved (and in some areas, women are in the majority), the numbers of women who remain in STEMM as researchers is low, squeezed out of science careers by structural barriers and insecure employment. The persistent gender pay gap in science careers is also a factor that impacts on women. The NTEU has campaigned on these issues, drawing attention to the obstacles that women face in maintaining careers in STEMM, and support those initiatives that see women not only take up careers in STEMM, but stay and advance in their chosen fields. Thus, while the Athena SWAN project may not address all the barriers for women, we welcome the adoption of the principles – such as addressing the use of short-term contracts for the retention and progression of women in academia – that will have a positive impact on universities as the main employers of women academics and researchers in the public sector. Terri MacDonald, Policy & Research Officer
STEMM
Athena Swan pilot at ANU
Cathy Day ANU
Sara Beavis ANU
The Australian National University (ANU) is amongst universities that committed to the SAGE Pilot of Athena SWAN in Australia, becoming an inaugural member in 2016. A genuine commitment is certainly helped along by the support of Vice-Chancellor, Professor Brian Schmidt, who donated part of the money from his Nobel Prize to supporting emerging women scientists. While the focus of the SAGE pilot is on Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, and Medicine (STEMM) disciplines, ANU does have policies to support gender equity in the Humanities and Social Science disciplines, as well as for professional staff. To achieve an Athena SWAN Bronze Award, ANU must demonstrate that it: • Understands the current state of gender equity in its STEMM disciplines. • Understands the institutional structures, systems and culture which contribute to gender inequity in its STEMM disciplines. • Has a 4 year action plan to address gender inequity in its STEMM disciplines. ANU has begun data collection, and formed a SAGE Self-Assessment Team (SAT), which meets every six weeks. Each meeting focuses on a particular application theme or project activity, such as identifying opportunities and developing indicators of success. The SAT seeks submissions for each meeting to ensure that it has input from all staff across the University. Any submission received is presented to the SAT along with quantitative and qualitative data on
the topic. After each meeting, notes are released on the ANU Athena SWAN website for review and comment. This feedback is then discussed at the following SAT meeting. The first SAT meeting focussed on staff numbers by grade, contract, and function and looked at any differences between genders. It also looked at the academic turnover rate and pay structures. In subsequent meetings, the SAT examined specific issues relating to supporting and advancing women’s careers, including key career transition points such as recruitment, induction, and promotion; what career development opportunities and career progression support is offered at ANU; flexible working arrangements; and managing career breaks. The team then moved on to look at the ANU organisation and culture as a whole, and how the Athena SWAN Principles can be embedded into the culture and working of ANU. The SAT looked at the University’s HR Policies; the gender balance of committees; timing of meetings and social gatherings; visibility of role models; outreach activities; and leadership. During 2018, the SAT began to consider in more detail intersectionality, with a
specific focus on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff, supporting transgender people, sexism, racism, homophobia, transphobia, disability discrimination, classism and ageism and how ANU is creating an inclusive environment. ANU’s Dr Merrin McKinnon, in an article in The Conversation, stated that “Attracting women to STEM careers is one issue, retaining them is another.” We do not see in the Athena Swan charter much that places responsibilities onto supervisors to assist women’s career development beyond the university. Much of the pay gap starts with doctoral graduates and post doctoral fellows moving out into the broader workforce without the mentoring opportunities provided to their male counterparts. How do we separate the responsibilities and actions focussing on career progression within universities (where there are so very few positions available anyway) from those responsibilities for supporting career trajectories as women take up positions outside universities? The draft application will go out to widespread consultations from October to December 2018, before finalising the application. The ANU submission for the Bronze SAGE award is due 31 March 2019. ANU’s commitment to achieving Athena SWAN accreditation is apparent and visible. Whilst it is still too early to have precise metrics on changes in staffing levels, turnover and career progression, the fact that the process is talked about and embedded within many staffing actions is a positive sign. We know that attracting women to STEMM careers is one issue, retaining them is another.
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A&TSI Women
The Black Agenda Q&A with Robyn Oxley Celeste Liddle NTEU
Robyn Oxley is a Tharawal woman (traditional owner of the south-western area of Sydney), an Assistant Lecturer in Criminology at Monash University, the current Indigenous Students’ Officer of the Monash Postgraduate Association, an NTEU member and a passionate advocate on issues effecting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. In 2018, as part of Victorian Trades Hall Council’s marking of NAIDOC Week, Robyn was a panellist on the Because of Her, We Can Feminism in the Pub event – a series special featuring four Aboriginal women. NTEU National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Organiser Celeste Liddle posed Robyn a few questions for Agenda. CL: The theme of NAIDOC 2018 was “Because of her, we can” and was the first time that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women had been centred in our annual celebration. This week provided us therefore with a unique opportunity in Indigenous dialogues to not only centre the stories of women but also to celebrate the diverse contributions Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women make to society. Why do you feel it is important to recognise and celebrate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and what were some key highlights for you during this NAIDOC Week? RO: In my community, Aboriginal women have always been the epicentre and driving force behind my generation being who they are. They fought the fights, they initiated the beginnings of equality and I feel it is for future generations to get out there, get educated and take every opportunity that is presented. Not only out of respect for the women who have walked before us but also as an acknowledgement of the hardship they endured. That is not to say we are still not enduring hardship but the actions of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women, previously, have allowed us to access the services that were denied to them. They provided the rights for us and we need to take them and continue their legacy. These women may have been mothers, aunts, grandmothers or women who we are lucky enough to have in our lives. It was such an important theme and I love how it is continuing to be celebrated, well after NAIDOC week, 2018!
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CL: You’re a Tharawal criminology lecturer at a time when one of the fastest growing prison populations in the world is Aboriginal women, where one hundred per cent of the children currently in the juvenile justice system in the NT are Indigenous, and where, on the other hand, we have to as a community continually fight for justice such as in the case of Lynette Daley. What are some of the key challenges you find within the study of criminology when related to our experiences and what do you feel needs to change in order to stop our communities being so heavily criminalised on one hand, and then neglected when seeking justice on the other? RO: One of the biggest challenges is the ‘assumed’ knowledge I am supposed to have on these issues. It is bigger than ‘just a few deaths in custody’. It involves systemic violence and prejudice. Domestic and family violence. Policing - both over-policing and under-policing as victims of crime. The social constructs of Aboriginality and the constant fight of being labelled as ‘criminal’. Racial profiling. The list goes on but what needs to change is the way we are reported as criminal. The stereotypes of Aboriginal people need to be dismantled and we can do this through education and truth-telling commissions. Our history needs to be shared and told. It’s not pretty, but it was real and it will continue to impact our lives and future generations until we start learning and listening about the truth in our treatment, as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders.
A&TSI women
There is mistrust and until we have an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander elected body in Parliament, so our voice is heard, listened to and recognised, we will continue to be controlled and excluded from practicing our right to self-determination and sovereignty over our own affairs. Local ownership must be a key player in determining the outcome(s) for our people. We are imprisoned at a rate far greater than non-Aboriginal people due to minor/ summary offences. We are dying in custody. All in all, we are overrepresented in the criminal justice system and we are not included in any policy making until it suits the Government, at the end of the process where the issue becomes too large for the Government to ‘deal’ with. CL: As mentioned, along with being an academic at Monash University, you’re also a postgraduate student and advocate. What do you feel are some of the biggest challenges facing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff and students at universities? RO: For Postgraduate students, it is trying to find positions in the academic arena. There are not enough employment opportunities for those that are interested in staying within the academic realm. At Monash, there simply aren’t enough Indigenous academics across all Schools and Faculties. Also, there is not enough support focused on postgraduate students as it is predominantly aimed at undergraduates through tutoring, textbook support and scholarships. For staff, there are a few challenges that I have personally come across. One of
the main challenges is that I am expected or asked to ‘perform’ certain tasks which non-Aboriginal people feel I should be undertaking, such as acknowledgements and attending certain events that may have Aboriginal people present. At times I do feel like the tokenistic Aboriginal woman who should be seen and not heard. Another challenge is isolation due to the low population of Aboriginal academics. There is no one else that you can bounce ideas off or just have a yarn about anything. A big challenge has been a lack of directorship/leadership, however, we have a newly appointed Pro ViceChancellor – Indigenous and Director of Yulendj Indigenous Engagement Unit that should see some changes in the way the Indigenous units and academics will work together in the future. CL: The Feminism in the Pub NAIDOC panel was a rare opportunity to get unionists, feminists, Indigenous activists and progressive allies in the one spot to listen to four Aboriginal women hold court. Why are gatherings like this important and what can we, as Aboriginal women, gain from taking part in them? RO: I am a huge advocate for truth-telling and sharing stories. That goes for both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people. If we are going to move forward we need our history told, shared and taught. This was an incredible opportunity for us to get together, answer some real questions that impact all of our lives, not just the panellists. We need more forums and panel dialogues to share our lived experiences so we can work towards finding contemporary solutions to contemporary problems. I really
enjoyed the questions and dialogue from the panellists. It is important that we have a voice, we use our voice and we are heard. CL: Finally, which Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women thought leaders have inspired you? RO: It would be remiss of me to not mention Marcia Langton first. I heard of Marcia in my first year at University, as a 25 year old. Her determination really resonated with me and it has been one of the many drivers behind my advocacy today. I also have some really strong women in my community back home, who have always pushed me and supported my decisions in life. This is something that non-Aboriginal people and their community are missing; it’s empowering and I am so fortunate to have this in my life. Professor Megan Davis has made some incredible ground with the Statement from the Heart. Jill Gallagher and her efforts in the groundbreaking Victorian Treaty processes. N‘arweet Carolyn Briggs, Boon Wurrung Traditional Owner, is definitely one of the most amazing Aboriginal women I have had the pleasure of knowing. She always greets me with open arms and has been an inspiration to me through the Victorian Aboriginal community. It is difficult to have moved from my home community, but the Aboriginal Victorian community are an incredible community, run by some amazing women. Opposite: Robyn Oxley. Above: Marayne Muller, Edie Shepherd, Celeste Liddle and Robyn Oxley at Feminism in the Pub. (Credit: Jeannie Rea)
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A&TSI WOMEN SECTION
Because of her we can In 2018, NAIDOC Week celebrated 80 years since the event which formed its genesis: the Day of Mourning Protest. This year’s theme was Because of Her We Can – a celebration of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and the contributions we have made and continue to make to society. It was the first time that women had been specifically centred in our national week and it created a fantastic opportunity to recognise the vast number of ways A&TSI women provide leadership, but also to challenge the dialogues which often render women’s achievements as secondary to those of men, due to us continually being assigned to support roles. Many celebrations were held throughout the week. At Victorian Trades Hall Council (VTHC), for example, a record number of people gathered to attend a special NAIDOC Week edition of their Feminism in the Pub series. The panel was chaired by VTHC’s A&TSI Officer Edie Shepherd, and consisted of criminologist Robyn Oxley, Ricci Marks Award 2018 nominee Marayne Miller and NTEU National A&TSI Organiser Celeste Liddle. Retaining the tradition set all those years ago by the Day of Mourning protesters, the annual NAIDOC march was also held. Record numbers attended in almost all cities, and were joined by a strong union contingent marching in solidarity. When it comes to the contributions that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women have made to the higher education sector over the years, Because of Her We Can has never been a more true and apt theme. In 1959, Margaret Williams-Weir became the first Aboriginal person to gain a university qualification when she completed a Diploma of Physical Education at the University of Melbourne. Having blazed that trail, Dr Williams-Weir undertook a degree, a masters and a doctorate and worked extensively in education in Australia, the UK and Canada. She also served as a commissioned officer within the Canadian Navy and additionally worked as the Aboriginal Education Coordinator for the Australian Teachers’ Federation (AEU). The first Aboriginal person to qualify for a degree was Margaret Valadian when, in 1966, she graduated from the University of Queensland with a Bachelor of Social Studies. Dr Valadian went on to have an illustrious career, within the academy and the public sector. In 1986, she was awarded an Officer of the Order of Australia. To this day, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women continue to blaze trails
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within higher education, therefore supporting and inspiring others to follow in their footsteps. At this point in time, A&TSI women make up two-thirds of both the Indigenous staffing contingent and student cohort. From challenging mainstream feminism movements such as Professor Aileen Morton-Robinson did in Talkin’ Up to the White Woman, to Helen Milroy becoming the first Aboriginal doctor in 1984, Rebecca Richards becoming the first Aboriginal Rhodes Scholar in 2011, Aunty Kerrie Doyle becoming the first Aboriginal graduate from Oxford, and Vinka Barunga aiming to be the first Aboriginal doctor to work in her home community of Derby – everywhere around us A&TSI women continue to inspire. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women still are more likely to enter university as mature-aged students, often juggling careers and families whilst undertaking their studies. When they encounter A&TSI support staff and academics throughout the course of their studies, these staff are also likely to be women. Yet despite women making up the majority of the Indigenous students and staff on campus, the academies remain places of white masculine
privilege. The higher level A&TSI academic and professional staff tend, therefore, to be filled by men. It is therefore timely to reflect upon Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women’s contributions to higher education in light of this special NAIDOC Week focus. Because of her, the path was created and others have been able to follow in her footsteps. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women have challenged the Western cannon, have provided critical analysis, have brought Indigenous ways of knowing and continue to strive to make these educational spaces more inclusive. A&TSI women are teachers, doctors, lawyers, social workers, pathologists and so many other things and all of this is possible because they have continued to achieve within higher education – at times against some extraordinary odds. It’s because of all of these Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women leading the way that the rest of us all ‘can’. Celeste Liddle, National A&TSI Organiser Above: Children at the head of the Melbourne NAIDOC march. (Credit: Paul Clifton)
UNION Women
Union women out to change the rules
The ACTU Change the Rules campaign has been substantially strengthened by having a specific focus on the issues and concerns of women workers. This is the first time that a major ACTU campaign has women’s issues at the forefront. Campaign aims include: • Increase in the minimum wage so it is a living wage. • Reverse the unfair penalty rates cuts. • Close the gender pay gap. • Close the superannuation gap so women don’t retire in poverty. • End wage theft and superannuation theft. • Ensure women in long term insecure work have the ability to request a move to permanent work, and that this cannot be unreasonably denied. • Improve paid parental leave. • Ten days paid family and domestic violence leave for all workers. • Stronger rights for flexible work so we have time to care for family members when they need it. • Address gendered violence in the workplace. The consequences of a combination of market driven, neoliberal economic policies and the undermining of industrial rights and protections by conservative governments have left Australia with a crisis of insecure work and stagnant wage growth. But for women, the situation is even worse. Women get paid less; are increasing locked out of secure retirement; are the majority of workers reliant on the minimum wage; are more vulnerable to exploitative, casualised and other forms of insecure work; and, due to deep rooted social norms of women caring and supporting others, women face more disruption over their (paid) working lives The ACTU’s campaign for working women focuses upon: 1. Pay equity (which is still 10.6% in education sector, 14.6% across the workforce and 32% in financial services).
2. Work Life collision (noting we have stopped talking about ‘balance’ because we are nowhere near that!). 3. Superannuation (because women will be retiring poor for a long time yet without change). 4. Insecure work (women are not only more likely to be precariously employed, but also are usually responsible for managing families where insecure work has become the norm). 5. Family and domestic violence leave. 6. Paid Parental Leave and Return to Work. 7. Sexual harassment and violence in the workplace. Given that women are impacted the most by our unfair industrial framework, we also stand to gain the most from change. The campaign is based on what women want changed in their workplaces, with polling commissioned by the ACTU finding that: • 66% of women think that business has too much power, compared to 54% of men. • 63% of women oppose cuts to penalty rates, compared to 50% of men. • 54% of women think the results of cutting penalty rates will result in businesses making more profits, not employing
more people or delivering wage rises, compared to 47% of men. • 67% of women say they have not had a pay rise in the last twelve months, compared to 61% of men. • Only 31% of women have had a wage rise in the last twelve months, compared to 39% of men. • 52% of women think that it is harder to get a wage rise that covers the cost of living compared to 45% of men. • Both men and women have similar levels of concern around the levels of insecurity they feel in their work. • Improve awards in line with community standards. The polling indicates that the ACTU’s Change the Rules campaign is resonating strongly with female voters, which could exacerbate the Federal Coalition Government’s problems winning over women. NTEU continues to strongly push that the ACTU campaign must forcefully advocate changing the rules to enable working people to take industrial action, including going on strike. The right to strike is critical for women, because our demands are not all accounted for within the frame of enterprise bargaining (when we can jump through hoops to take legal industrial action). Many, many working women are not even covered by Enterprise Agreements. To see more on the ACTU campaign, go to: changetherules.org.au NTEU’s Change the Rules campaign: nteu.org.au/changetherules
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Union Women
ACTU President
Michele O’Neil
Jeannie Rea NTEU
Michele O’Neil was elected Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) President at the ACTU Congress in July 2018. She was the National Secretary of the Textile, Clothing and Footwear Union of Australia (TCFUA), which was recently part of a three way merger with the CFMEU and MUA. Jeannie Rea sat down with Michele to talk about the experiences that have brought her to the leadership of the ACTU. Michele started with the TCFUA in Melbourne 28 years ago, employed on a series of contracts assisting members who were being displaced as a consequence of the then Keating Labor Government’s industry restructure plan. Part of her role was setting up consultative mechanisms for talking with workers to see what they really wanted and what could work for them.
Youth housing advocate Years of political activism and working on youth housing and homelessness in community organisations in Canberra, where she had moved to from Melbourne at the age of eight, had well prepared Michele for deep engagement with identifying issues and providing real assistance to improve people’s lives. For one Canberra project, Michele helped create specialised accommodation for homeless youth at Ainslie Village, which was a large provider of long term housing for men, many of them injured and otherwise damaged from the Snowy Mountain project who had no one, and nowhere to go. However, by the 1980s there was also nowhere for the increasing numbers of homeless youth. Eventually, Michele headed up the National Youth Coalition for Housing and returned to Melbourne.
Challenging an entrenched leadership After the contract work finished at the TCFUA, Michele worked in the industry, making jumpers in a knitting mill and also sewing on labels in a factory, giving her invaluable experience on the shop floor. She was appointed as an industrial officer
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and then was elected as an organiser with the Union. Recognising that the Union really needed to change and be much more representative, accountable and accessible to members, Michele joined a rank and file campaign that took on an entrenched, predominantly Anglo, male and out-of-touch, leadership in election after election. Eventually they won through, and Michele was elected State Secretary and later National Secretary, with solid support from the ethnically and culturally diverse women and men, who made up much of the membership.
Organising the outworkers But the industry was in real crisis; so many factories had closed up, but not all the work had gone offshore. There were many clothing, textile end footwear workers that purchased their machine (not cheaply) as they were shown the factory gate. They started working out of their homes and garages.
Outwork at piece rates had been a phenomenon in the industry a century earlier. The late twentieth century version was no different with a series of middle men/women taking their cut and the home-based workers stuck at the end of the line. A view had prevailed in the TCFUA, as in other unions, that outworkers were not ‘real’ workers, but were sub-contractors. It has taken many years to shift this view and it is only relatively recently that unions like the Transport Workers Union, for example, have been organising amongst ownerdrivers. Now it is well recognised that subcontracting is even more prevalent as it has become yet another way for bosses to avoid employment and industrial laws. The new TCFUA leadership watched as workers who had been in the Union now joined the legions of outworkers, and their wages and conditions deteriorated rapidly without the structure and regulations of the factories. So, they decided to organise them.
Union WOmen This was a different way of union organising, and meant connecting with the ethnic communities, finding leaders, speaking across different languages and teaching English. As Michele explained, it was about slowly and steadily building trust.
Taking on the supply chains The Union soon realised that trying to extract a little more out of the middle men/ women was not enough. They had to focus on the supply chain if they were to make a real difference. They also connected with others under the umbrella of the FairWear campaign, which brought faith groups, students, women’s and community organisations to campaign for justice for outworkers. The FairWear campaign drew attention to the cost of clothes compared to the amount paid to the worker who actually made the clothes. This became part of an international campaign, as factory workers producing clothes and footwear overseas were also being paid a pittance and working in extremely dangerous conditions. However, what was needed in Australia were concrete remedies, amending the Awards and the industrial legislation to deem outworkers as employees rather than sub-contractors. This took fifteen years of continuous campaigning. The Union also campaigned for transparency through the supply chain. The TCFUA won reforms that made those higher up the supply chain accountable for breaches on pay, leave and conditions of work. Unions won right-of-entry and access to employment records.
International & community unionism The Australian breakthroughs on forcing supply chain accountability have been the focus of campaigns around the world, often coordinated through IndustriALL, the global trade union federation that covers textile, clothing & footwear (TCF), leather, metals, manufacturing, mining and chemical workers. For example, the TCFUA was already providing support to the Bangladeshi TCF unions as they campaigned to improve safety in the factories, when the Rana Plaza building collapsed killing over 1100 workers and injuring hundreds of others. The Union campaigned in Australia and globally to force companies to become part of the Bangladesh Fire and Building Safety Accord.
As the Australian TCF industry continued to closedown, the workers needed help with retraining, with English language and literacy, and with knowledge and skills to find other jobs. Michele spoke of the typical situation where a woman may have started working in a factory at just fourteen, and had over thirty years had become a highly skilled machinist, but was only in her early 40s and now needed new skills. Many workers have gone into aged care, others to security, logistics and warehousing work, but unfortunately many of these jobs are part-time, casual and not unionised.
Merging to build capacity & win for workers While the TCFUA was a very effective union, the leadership took the view that to most powerfully represent and organise members in a changing industry they needed to join with another union, where they could continue to be a discrete section and represent the interests of the TCF workers, but also increase their capacity by being part of a bigger, stronger union. The welcome mat was put out by several unions, but the synergies of the furnishing, forestry and paper sections of the Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) were a good fit, along with the CFMEU’s reputation for fighting not just for wages and conditions but for workers jobs, explained Michele. She added that with the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) also coming on board, they would be with a union with a deep understanding of international solidarity. The TCFUA is now part of the manufacturing division of the renamed CFMMEU.
Supporting women unionists The TCFUA has brought many more women into this renowned ‘blokey’ union. Fortunately, Michele says that, the newly merged union is aware of the need to more effectively support women through to leadership. As Michele noted, while women in unions have come a long way, we still have much to do in our unions and beyond. The recent ACTU Congress was more representative at nearly half women delegates, but this is at a time when women are joining unions at a faster rate than men. In early 2017, when Sally McManus became ACTU Secretary joining with President Ged Kearney, the ACTU was led by two women for the first time. Ged left earlier this year to successfully contest for the ALP by-election for the seat of Batman (since renamed after Aboriginal leader, William Cooper). The biggest issue, though, is that not enough women or men are joining unions, at the same time as wages and working conditions deteriorate and inequality increases. Michele O’Neil comes to the ACTU presidency with extensive experience and passion to make unions work for all workers. Her background as a community activist and her ongoing demonstrated commitment to justice and rights for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, and to refugees also set her up well to steer us to a more inclusive and community embedded ACTU. Jeannie and Michele go back a long way and first worked together in Australia Asia Worker Links Opposite page: Michele O’Neil at ACTU COngress 2018. (Source: ACTU) Above: Jeannie Rea and Michele O’Neil in August 2018. (Credit: Paul Clifton)
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Visit SECTION your NTEU Member Advantage website to discover your full range of benefits.
Through Member Advantage, NTEU members can save on everyday household upgrades, a gift for someone special and even plan your holidays away. • Use e-gift cards to save on fuel, groceries and shopping. • Save on the important health insurance with specially negotiated plans and premiums. • Travel with discounted accommodation, airline lounge memberships, travel insurance and package tours.
1998 2018
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Celebrating 20 years of member benefits
Unon Women
NT DIVISION SECRETARY
Lolita Wikander
Donelle Cross CDU
NT Division Secretary, Lolita Wikander, is retiring after many years as an NTEU representative. Lolita has been involved with the union movement in one way or another for 36 years, initially joining the Queensland Nurses Union where she was a delegate, Branch committee member and participated in bargaining.
Lolita then moved to the NT and joined the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation (ANMF), again as a delegate and member of the bargaining team. Within the NTEU, Lolita started as Branch Secretary for the Batchelor Institute in 2004 and has held many positions in the Union since then, including Women’s Action Committee member, Division Councillor, National Executive member, NT Division President and, ultimately, Division Secretary. As a Division Secretary, Lolita has always led by example. Putting in countless volunteer hours to support and guide the staff of the NTEU. She has always been friendly and approachable so members always felt they had a caring and intelligent colleague to turn to for advice.
Lolita was diligent in following up issues and would selflessly put others before her own career and needs. Many gains were made under her leadership: from a focus on recruitment that took Territory membership numbers to an all-time high, to conditions of employment gained at the enterprise bargaining table. In this round of bargaining the upfront component of parental leave was increased from 14 weeks to 20 weeks in addition to a transition to full time employment provision which consists of a further three days paid time off a fortnight until the child is 12 months old. She also worked hard on having the paid domestic violence leave increased from 10 days to 15 days a year. Lolita was the stalwart behind Round 7 of bargaining at Charles Darwin University (CDU), attending more than 130 meetings and committing herself fully to the thankless and mundane tasks such as laboriously checking through the details of Agreements. No task was too big or too small for her and when issues arose she reached out to empower others to step up and take ownership of moving forward to tackle the concerns. If you had a suggestion, the quick witted Lolita would often fire back: “That’s great, what are you going to do?” The master of delegation, Lolita understood fully that it takes a team approach to win,
and even when tensions arose as they inevitably do due to bargaining she would play the peacemaker. A unionist and feminist to her core, Lolita walked the talk showing that if you genuinely put the effort in and bring others along on the journey, you’ll win. Lolita Wikander is also a Senior Lecturer for the College of Nursing & Midwifery at CDU, specialising in the area of professional nursing. Lolita holds degrees in nursing, teaching, health administration and information systems and has published in journals and book chapters. Lolita is taking time away from her active union position to concentrate on her PhD which brings together many of her skills and passions. She will be conducting research into strength training and continence in women. In addition to a black belt in karate, Lolita has been the Secretary of Darwin Powerlifting Inc. for 4 years. She has been training women at her home gym for many years, and has achieved numerous national and world powerlifting records. When not at work, Lolita can be found in her garden (another passion!) or her home gym.
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SCHOLARSHIPS
Carolyn Allport Scholarship
Evonne Irwin Evonne Irwin has been awarded the 2018 Carolyn Allport Scholarship, a postgraduate scholarship in feminist studies. Evonne is doing a PhD in sociology at the University of Newcastle and aims to investigate how inhabiting an occupational role that crosses academic and nonacademic domains in higher education influences the way work is experienced and gendered in what is described as the ‘third space’. “Third space professionals,” says Evonne, “contribute a diverse and increasingly important range of specialised knowledge to universities such as pedagogical and language and literacies expertise, and occupy roles such as online curriculum developers, learning advisors and equity practitioners.” Evonne started working in higher education in English language and literacy teaching in 2008. Currently working in curriculum design, Evonne has first-hand experience of being a professional in this third space and is well-placed to conduct participatory and qualitative research with other colleagues who work in that same space. “As a feminist, I want to uncover and interrogate the professional identities, power/s, gendered relations and mis/ recognitions of third space professionals and lay the foundations for changes to gendered structures and practices in higher education work environments,” says Evonne. “It is highly likely that gender plays a significant role in how third space professionals experience their work, but their gendered experiences remain invisible to the mechanisms which inform higher education policy, governance and advocacy.” Tackling invisibility of third space professionals is of particular interest to Evonne as she wants higher education institutions to acknowledge and value the expertise these third space professionals bring to their roles and how important those roles are in supporting both students and teachers in higher education. “The experience/s of third space professionals are structurally and conceptually made
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invisible through deeply entrenched and gendered assumptions and practices, also patriarchal structures describe these workers and their work as assistants and assistance, rather than as producers of knowledge.” Evonne’s methodology for this study is reciprocal, participatory and reflexive. She will conduct face-to-face interviews with third space professionals from a number of universities and ask them to write about and reflect upon their own experiences. In addition, this study is also an autoethnography where Evonne will interrogate her own experiences. Evonne says that a feminist poststructuralist approach to her enquiry means understanding that “identity/s are mutable and are formed through the systems of meaning and values we experience. Most importantly, the methodology of this study positions participants as producers of data through spoken (interviews) and written (reflective, autobiographical) texts as well as producers of knowledge because they will help shape and validate the themes which emerge with the research.” Evonne will also offer participants co-authorship on journal articles which result from the project. In 2014, NTEU identified blurred lines between academic and administrative work. Evonne Irwin’s PhD study will provide important knowledge to NTEU and the higher education sector. NTEU established the scholarship in 2014 in recognition of Dr Carolyn Allport. The scholarship is available to a woman currently enrolled in an academic award of an Australian public university and undertaking postgraduate feminist studies, by research, in any discipline. It pays $5000 per year for a maximum of three years. Applications are assessed by prominent feminist research scholars. Helena Spyrou, Education & Training Officer www.nteu.org.au/myunion/scholarships/ carolyn_allport
Dr Carolyn Allport was NTEU National President from 1994 to 2010, becoming a prominent lobbyist at both the national and international levels. Described as a ‘warrior for women’, Carolyn was tenacious in advocating for women’s rights to employment equity. Particularly influential in the struggle for paid parental leave, Carolyn established NTEU as the leader in setting high benchmarks for other unions and employers to match. She is also recognised as a leading advocate for Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander education, employment and social justice. Within the NTEU structure, she was a driving force to ensure that A&TSI business is core NTEU business. Carolyn worked as an academic for over 20 years at Macquarie University in the areas of economic history, urban politics, public housing and women’s history. Carolyn sadly passed away in 2017.
SCHOLARSHIPS
Joan Hardy Scholarship
Samantha Petric
Samantha Petric is the 2018 recipient of the Joan Hardy Scholarship for postgraduate nursing research. Her research is investigating the levels of commitment and readiness towards cultural safety within schools of nursing in Australian universities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander academics, students and supporters. Samantha is completing a Master of Philosophy (Nursing) through the University of Notre Dame in Sydney. A Registered Nurse, Samantha has worked in rural and remote settings and in metropolitan hospitals in Sydney. To date she has worked in four Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health services. Samantha’s interest in this research began when she took up an opportunity to work in Aboriginal health in Alice Springs as an undergraduate. There she observed how approaches to nursing and health were not considering the cultural needs and practices of Aboriginal people. She then attended cultural training with the Congress of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Nurses and Midwives (CATSINaM) where she learnt how nursing professions impacted upon Aboriginal Australians because nurses upheld and enforced white Australia policies of assimilation, segregation and integration. “I realised I was part of a profession that had historically practiced colonised and racist behaviours and attitudes towards Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. I had to begin by looking at my own practice and what I had accepted as the norm.” Samantha began to decolonise herself by living and working in remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. “I’ve always wanted to work remote, but it took some time to get there because I had to build up exposure to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health, and skills in areas such as: emergency work, immunisation, life support and paediatrics.” For the last twelve months, Samantha has been living and working as a remote area nurse in Yalata Aboriginal Community in South Australia. This is the second time that Samantha has lived in Yalata. “A few years back, when I was working as an agency nurse, I spent 18 months travelling a circuit from Yarrabah Aboriginal Community
in Queensland, to Sydney and then to Yalata in South Australia. Some of my stints were only two weeks, others, four months.” The study’s aim is to encourage Schools of Nursing in Australia to decolonise their policies, frameworks and curricula to promote a culturally safe space for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander academics, students, supporters and non-Indigenous academics teaching these subjects. “Decolonising the nursing profession involves cross-cultural reconciliation, heightening the voices of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nurses. Health care professionals may be unaware that their behaviour, normalised practices and policies are discriminatory or that health care is dominated by Western reasoning and knowledge and this impacts on the physical and mental health of Indigenous people.” Recently, Samantha completed the Australian College of Nursing’s Emerging Nurse Leader Program and Cultural Safety Training with CATSINaM, an organisation she believes has provided invaluable knowledge to assist her in her own personal decolonisation process and in conceptualising this study. An active member of CATSINaM and Leaders
Joan Hardy was active in higher education unionism for over 30 years, and was the first woman President of UACA (one of the predecessors of NTEU). Joan was a tireless advocate for union amalgamation and was a key negotiator in the formation of NTEU, becoming Vice-President when the Union was formed in 1993. This scholarship, established by NTEU in memory of Joan who died in 2003, is available to a student currently enrolled in an academic award of an Australian public university and undertaking postgraduate study of nurses, nursing culture or practices, or historical aspects of nursing as a lay or professional practice and expects to submit the thesis within one year of being awarded the Scholarship. in Nursing and Midwifery Education Network (LINEM), Samantha has been invited to present her findings at the CATSINaM Conference in Adelaide in September this year. The scholarship funds will be used to cover her travel and conference costs, as well as loss of income. Helena Spyrou, Education & Training Officer www.nteu.org.au/myunion/scholarships/joan_hardy
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HERSTORY SECTION
Musing on women & history: Bella Guerin
On the University of Melbourne website, the first woman graduate in 1883, Bella Guerin is noted as “working as a teacher and political activist in campaigns for suffrage.” This summation of Julia Margaret (Bella) Guerin, also known by her second husband’s name Lavender, does not do credit to the depth of her radical politics and lifelong struggle as a woman political activist. Like many of the early women university graduates, Guerin became a teacher. While many may have been keen to teach, the reality was that graduate women were either legally excluded from the professions, or just denied entry. So teaching was the only option. It has been observed that many of the first generations of graduates, the so-called Bluestockings, ended up in public sector jobs noting that as indicative of their commitment to public service. For example, for decades most of the education and health department doctors were women, but this probably had more to do with the prejudice of hospitals and of male doctors and their own lack of capital to establish a practice, as being public service minded. Guerin, though, was a dedicated teacher focused upon girls’ education. But she had to resign when she first married in 1891. (The marriage bar remained until the 1960s.) She returned to teaching after her second marriage broke down as she had a child to support. However, her career was patchy and biographers have attributed this to her increasing political activity as she became involved in the suffrage struggle. She also spoke out against the working conditions, which would not have endeared her to the paternalistic Education Department. Recognised as a fine writer and orator, Guerin campaigned on many issues including the rights of illegitimate children, equality between the sexes, and defended the English militant suffragettes. She was very active in the anti-conscription fight in World War 1 and led the Labor Women’s Anti-Conscription Fellowship campaign, travelling the country decrying militarism and defending rights of assembly and free speech.
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She was active in the Labor and Victorian Socialist parties and the Women’s League of Socialists, but there was always tension between her political party and women’s advocacy. One account noted that: [when] appointed vicepresident of the Labor Party’s Women’s Central Organizing Committee in March 1918, she aroused censure and controversy for describing Labor women as ‘performing poodles and packhorses’ underrepresented in policy decisions and relegated to auxiliary fund raising roles. Henceforth she organized for Labor ‘only so far as it stands for those principles represented by the Red Flag’, believing in the parliamentary system but desiring capitalism’s elimination. Guerin described herself as an ‘incorrigible militant’. She was not the quiet reformist at all. It is interesting that much of Guerin’s contributions to political causes was under her married name of Lavender, and the connection to first university graduate Bella Guerin is not made. The convention of women taking on their husband’s names is one of the many ways women are made invisible, in their own times and in retrieving history. Of course, the consequences of marriage like losing a job and career are even more problematic, and also probably explain why some women did not marry. Women teachers, even though they did not gain equal pay until the 1960s, despite agitating since the 1930s, often found themselves supporting other family members and children.
Feminist historiography seeks to do much more than retrieve women from history, but it still seems we have much to do on this score. Telling the stories in context still has to be done. I wonder if text quoting Edith Cowan in microscopic print on the new $50 note will be noticed by many? However,he words should be read: I stand here today in the unique position of the being the first woman in an Australian parliament. If men and women can work for the same state side by side and represent all the different sections of the community … I cannot doubt that we should do very much better work in the community than was ever done before. Perhaps we could also remember Cowan by referring to the university named for her in full rather than as the neutral ECU. Jeannie Rea, National President Image: Wood engraving of Bella Guerin, published in 1883 in The Illustrated Australian news. (Source: State Library of Victoria)
INTERNATIONAL
EI World women’s conference
Through the labyrinth
Amongst the 500 delegates that gathered in Marrakesh, Morocco in February this year, were women (and even a few men) from Education International (EI) affiliates from across world, including a significantly good representation from African and Middle Eastern education unions. The occasion was the 3rd EI World Women’s Conference, titled “Finding a Way ‘Through the Labyrinth’: Women, Unions, Education & Leadership”. EI President Susan Hopgood explained the conference title, ‘Through the Labyrinth’ in her opening address, focussing upon the still chronic under-representation of women in political, business and even trade union leadership. Feminisation of the teaching profession is now the case throughout the world. (International statistics on academic employment are showing that this is also so in higher education, see p. 34.) Despite feminisation, the proportion of women in education leadership continues to only slowly increase. Hopgood spoke to the focus on breaking through the ‘glass ceiling’ and argued that this metaphor made sense in the 1980s, when the world of work looked quite different and more linear. Women could see the path to promotion and leadership, and strategies and tactics were focussed around this. These days, Hopgood argued, paths to leadership are more opaque and the barriers often hard to pinpoint. Whereas we once concentrated upon ensuring there was a pipeline of qualified women, this was not enough. Therefore, she argued, we have to negotiate a labyrinth, and task of the conference was to unravel this.
Interestingly, there were fewer men at the conference and, importantly, fewer men there to keep an eye on the women from their union. In the age of #MeToo this was certainly a positive thing. Indeed, the session on ‘Men in support of women’ started with incoming EI General Secretary, David Edwards interviewing the General Secretary of a Colombian teachers’ union on how he ensures that women can lead. This, of course, came back to basic practical things like holding meetings at times women can attend, providing child care and safety in getting to the meetings and home again.
#MeToo to Baraka The #MeToo social media movement calling out sexual misconduct was certainly a current running through the conference, with a focus upon sexual harassment in education workplaces, but also in unions. Whilst predominantly a discourse of the global north, it was very interesting to hear from women from Eastern Europe, Africa and South America on how women in their countries have picked up and used the
opportunities this groundswell has facilitated. It cannot be denied that the access to social media, outside of mass media and government control, has enabled women to speak to one another and across cultural and national boundaries. In Morocco, where like many places sexual harassment is a constant in public places, the real life response is for women to raise their hand and proclaim ‘baraka’ – enough! And this has literally stopped men in their tracks. Solidarity amongst women, with their peers and across generations, in just refusing to stand aside for men, and instead standing up for women is making the difference. It is in this environment that leaders emerge, and also remember where their strength – and responsibility – comes from. Jeannie Rea, National President Jeannie Rea represented the NTEU at the EI Womens’ Conference. The BARAKA Campaign in Morocco aims to change social norms that perpetuate violence against women: www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvJOZcu8PNo
For this third women’s conference, the practical focus was upon facilitating participation by delegates, and ensuring the inclusion of youth delegates. I pondered, as I listened to the inevitable discussions on encouraging, mentoring and training the next generation, that the best thing the older generation of leaders probably could do was get out the way and back up the ‘next gen’ in taking on formal leadership roles. Regardless of what part of the world, or the strength and internal stability of unions, there are many highly capable younger women waiting the wings. VOLUME 26 SEPTEMBER 2018
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International
Feminisation of higher education internationally In Australia, nearly six-in-ten university graduates are women and equal numbers of women and men are undertaking and graduating from postgraduate courses. Workforce futures remain inequitable, with the gender pay gap kicking in immediately upon graduation, along with the growing prevalence of insecure jobs. However, women continue to enrol and gain university degrees. This has a lot to do with the persistence of gendered occupations in Australia and good ‘women’s jobs’ need degrees. These include nursing and teaching, but also across the gamut of ‘caring’, health and medical occupations, as well as newer professional areas from communications to environmental sustainability. There are still other post-secondary qualification options dominated by men, although the employment market in what were good full time ‘male’ career jobs has substantially contracted. Just as interesting is that the higher education workforce is also becoming increasingly feminised. Women are rapidly edging towards half of the academic workforce (currently 47%), but are still only one-third of the professoriate. One-third of vice-chancellors are women and some women have senior academic leadership roles. Because these positions tend to be limited term, women find their positions can be precarious if they have too much to say. Their male counterparts have been known to attract bonuses that women did not even know existed. At the other end, the majority of casual academics are also women, who also know they will not be re-employed if they have too much to say. Amongst general/professional staff, the proportion of women still steadily climbs, but at senior levels men still seem to progress more smoothly. Substantive equity gains made over the past two decades seem to have stalled, and this is indicated in the gender pay gap across the whole of the education sector which stills sits over 10%.
International phenomenon Feminisation of higher education is an international phenomenon. Over the last 40 years, across the world, the number of women enrolling in higher education has almost doubled that of men. The Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) of men went from 11% in 1970 to 26% in 2009. However, the comparable ratio for women during this time tripled, going from 8% to 28%. The growth in women in tertiary education is uneven across the different regions of the world and while UNESCO (World Atlas of Gender Equality) data generally confirms that more women are enrolled in wealthier countries there are exceptions, such as Mongolia and the Philippines, which are middle income countries, while Japan has lower participation. These exceptions are explained by government intervention to facilitate girls finishing high school and going onto universities. The costs in terms of tuition fees and income support are critical, but actual laws restricting women’s enrolment, which persisted in Japan, also make the difference. Back in 1970, the GER was higher for men in all regions except Central and Eastern Europe, where women’s equality was government policy. By 2009, the GER favoured women in Western, Central and Eastern Europe, North America, Latin America and the Caribbean, East Asia and the Pacific. The greatest discrimination against women persisted in sub-Saharan Africa. Of 149 countries, 93 now have a majority of female higher education students, while men are the majority in only 46. Generally, UNESCO attributes the rise in women’s participation to social mobility, enhanced income potential and international pressure to lower the GPG. Local religious, cultural, political and
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economic pressures to privilege boys continued education over their sisters noticeably ameliorates with increased income, and particularly with increased education of mothers. Educated mothers raise educated daughters. Educated fathers may not. The positive association between educated mothers and reduced child mortality and morbidity, as well as exercising reproductive choice, has also been an incentive for girls’ education. Higher education relies upon girls getting through school. Not only are more women entering higher education, but more are also completing postgraduate qualifications. However, access to and the attainment of higher education qualifications doesn’t necessarily translate to enhanced career opportunities, particularly at the doctoral level. So despite graduate positions being open to women in most places, discrimination stills works against their employment, along with the practicalities of safety at work and getting to and from work. Gendered family obligations will also mitigate establishing and sustaining a career. Universities are a good career workplace for graduate women in professional and academic roles. And across much of the world there are increasingly more women in entry level academic positions, but promotion falls away. So even in countries with strong records of gender equity action the professoriate remains over twothirds male. The struggle to increase women’s participation in the professoriate remains an important focus because academic leadership comes from the professoriate. What is taught and by whom are in the province of academic leaders and decision-makers. Gender equity policies and strategies are common across universities across the world, and regularly on the agendas of international meetings. However sexism persists and remains extreme in those countries where women struggle to complete school through poverty and/ or religious/political decree. In other countries where middle class women’s access to university is quite possible, progressive women academics are still persecuted like Iranian Professor Homa Hoodfar imprisoned for ‘dabbling in feminism’ (see Advocate 25:2, p. 42). Internationally, gender equity programs and structural changes have made a difference for younger qualified general and professional staff women, but women who enter administrative positions without qualifications are disadvantaged and looked over for leadership and promotion, just like in Australia. Also like in Australia, the participation of Indigenous and minority women and refugees, remain limited without specific policies of access and inclusion. The question now being considered is what will feminisation mean to the future of higher education. What will be the impact on status and remuneration of university staff and of graduates? In the past feminisation of a profession has tended to depress remuneration and status, but this is not necessarily happening in newer professional fields like communications. We need to watch and be alert to remedying gender discriminatory trends. We also need to maintain an intersectional focus so that more privileged women are not the only to gain from current trends and opportunities. Jeannie Rea, National President
International
Scandal in Tokyo Medical school: scores rigged to keep female ratio low Tokyo Medical University officials systemically reduced the entrance exam scores of female applicants, apparently feeling that women are not dependable enough to become doctors. The rigging of the exam scores has continued since at least 2010 in an organised attempt to keep the ratio of female students at the university below 30% for any given year. “Many female students who graduate end up leaving the actual medical practice to give birth and raise children,” said a source. “There was a silent understanding (to accept more male students) as one way to resolve the doctor shortage.” The percentage of female applicants who actually entered the university was much lower than the ratio of those who took the exam. According to university sources, a specific coefficient was used to automatically reduce the exam scores of all female applicants. For this year’s entrance exam in February, 39% of applicants were women, accounting for 33% of those who passed the written exam. But the ratio dropped to 18% among those who passed the final stage. Only 30 women were accepted by the university, compared with 141 men. The move to reduce the number of female students started in 2010, when about 40% of the successful
applicants were women, a sharp increase from the previous year. One high-ranking university official said such across-the-board rigging of exam scores was unforgivable, although men had previously been given preference over women if they had the same score. A university official said an internal investigation was being conducted, and the results would be announced. An education ministry official in charge of the matter said universities are allowed to adjust the gender ratio as long as they clearly state such quotas when announcing plans for accepting new students. But since Tokyo Medical University made no such announcement, its adjustments were a problem, the official said. Source: Asahi Shimbun
Amnesty blasts ongoing detention of Saudi women’s rights defenders Amnesty International says the ongoing arbitrary detention of several women’s rights defenders in Saudi Arabia is outrageous, as prominent activists pass 100 days detention. “It is absolutely outrageous that so many brave human rights defenders in Saudi Arabia are still being held without charge – apparently for simply speaking out against injustice,” said Amnesty International’s Samah Hadid. “This must not go on any longer.” To mark the 100 day anniversary, Amnesty mobilised supporters to gather outside of Saudi Arabian embassies worldwide, putting pressure on the Saudi authorities, as well as their own governments, to take action. The crackdown comes despite Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman presenting himself as a ‘reformer’. His international public relations campaign contrasts sharply with an intensifying crackdown on dissenting voices, including those campaigning for equal rights for women. Loujain al-Hathloul, Iman al-Nafjan and Aziza al-Yousef have faced accusations which include forming a ‘cell’ and posing a threat to state security for their “contact with foreign entities with the aim of undermining the country’s stability and social fabric”. Amnesty understands that the three women may be charged and tried by the country’s notorious counter-terror court, which has been used in other instances to try human rights defenders and deliver harsh prison sentences. Hatoon al-Fassi, a prominent women’s rights activist and academic was detained a few days after Saudi Arabia lifted the driving ban for women in June. So far, a total of 12 human rights defenders have been detained: 8 women and 4 men. Many of the activists detained campaigned for the right to drive and the end of the repressive male guardianship system in Saudi Arabia for many years. “Saudi Arabia must release all prisoners of conscience immediately and unconditionally, and end the draconian crackdown on freedom of expression in the country,” Samah Hadid said. Source: www.amnesty.org Image: Imprisoned academic, Dr Hatoon al-Fassi
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#feminism SECTION
#everydaysexism
Sexism is an everyday experience for women everywhere, including in universities. Hereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a selection from Twitter of #EverydaySexism.
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