Macquarie has joined a group of 40 research institutes in a pilot that encourages the promotion, hiring, participation and retention of women in science, technology, engineering, mathematics and medicine (STEMM).

Announced at the recent Science in Australia Gender Equity (SAGE) symposium, Macquarie becomes an official participant in the pilot program, which is supported by the Australian Academy of Sciences and based on the Athena SWAN charter. The charter has seen gender equity practices in United Kingdom higher education and research institutes greatly improve over the last decade. Macquarie will now work towards Bronze accreditation of the Athena SWAN Charter.

Macquarie’s SAGE self-assessment team will be chaired by Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research Integrity and Development) Professor Lesley Hughes.

“Macquarie is extremely committed to driving gender diversity in STEMM and increasing the level of women in leadership positions,” Professor Hughes says.

Vice-Chancellor Professor S Bruce Dowton welcomed the announcement and says the University’s involvement in the pilot will strengthen our commitment to leading the sector in gender equity.

“While Macquarie performs well in comparison to the sector average in terms of women in senior academic positions, the University is undertaking in 2016 to accelerate achievement of a truly gender balanced organisation,” Professor Dowton notes.

Women comprised 31 per cent of all Macquarie staff at Level E in 2015¹ compared to a university sector average of 25 per cent², and 37 per cent at Level D¹ compared to a sector average of 30 per cent².

Learn more about the Science in Australia Gender Equity (SAGE) Pilot in Australia.

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^{1. ‘Women in Macquarie: Gender Equity Data 2015’, report by the Equity and Diversity Unit, October 2015.}

^{2. Universities Australia}