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A pilot program aimed at addressing gender equality in the fields of science, technology, engineering, mathematics and medicine has been launched in Australia.

The Science in Australia Gender Equity (SAGE) Pilot, run by the Australian Academy of Science (AAS) and the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering, (ATSE) is modelled off the UK’s internationally Athena SWAN Charter, which has been operating for 10 years and aims to improve gender diversity seeing women in leadership roles within science, technology, engineering and mathematics and medicine (STEMM) institutions.

Thirty-two Australian universities, medical research institutes and publicly funded research agencies will participate in the SAGE pilot, which was launched in September.

Women comprise more than half of science PhD graduates and early career researchers, but just 17% of senior academics in Australian universities and research institutes. In the field of engineering, women account for just under 20% of engineering students nationally, and are underrepresented in high-level positions.

SAGE steering committee member and ATSE vice president Susan Pond says the program will see participants collect comprehensive data on their current gender equity standards, policies and practices, identify weaknesses and shortcomings, and develop and implement plans to improve gender equity.

Institutions will then submit an application for accreditation with Athena SWAN at gold, silver or bronze level, which will be determined by improvements made during the pilot.

“It’s a partnership between two of the four learned academies - between our two academies, we cover all of the women in the STEMM fields,” Pond says.

“The fact we have formed a partnership forms a strong signal to anyone that’s receptive that we’re taking this seriously. What we’re looking at is avoiding the loss of women from STEMM within universities, and within the senior ranks within universities.”

Pond says the volume of organisations taking part mean the pilot will run for almost four years.

“It is actually going to comprise about half of the (universities) in the whole country, because of the enthusiasm and recognition across the board now that this is a problem, this is a brain drain, this is a waste of talent,” Pond says. “Of course, from a human rights point of view, it’s also an unsustainable position for a developed country to be in.”

“The things in Australia mirror the problems that were being addressed in the UK, particularly in the harder physical sciences, such as physical, astronomy, mathematics and engineering.”

Pond says the pilot will be a huge undertaking for participating institutions.

“We did not start the journey at the same time (as the UK), so there’s an enormous amount of work to be done in institutions to find where they have the adata, what systems they have in place, what gaps they have in place, what gaps they have in their organisation, to even be able to be assessable against the Athena SWAN criteria,” Pond says.

For more information on the SAGE Pilot, visit the AAS website. 

The ten principles of the Athena SWAN Charter:

1. We acknowledge that academia cannot reach its full potential unless it can benefit from the talents of all.
2. 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.
3. 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 and mathematics (STEM)
4. We commit to tackling the gender pay gap.
5. 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.
6. We commit to addressing the negative consequences of using short-term contracts for the retention and progression of staff in academia, particularly women.
7. We commit to tackling the discriminatory treatment often experienced by transgender people.
8. 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.
9. 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.
10. All individuals have identities shaped by several different factors. We commit to considering the intersection of gender and other factors wherever possible.