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Equity in Higher Education

Western Sydney University is a global leader in equity and diversity and has a wide range of supports and resources to assist students and staff in achieving equal access and opportunity across all aspects of their learning and working experiences.

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Student Commencement and Completion at Western

In an effort to promote and embed a gender-aware and gender-responsive culture at Western, the University tracks and monitors a range of student data, disaggregated by gender. This data assists the University in identifying possible areas of emerging disparity and helps to inform future strategic and practice directions for the University. At current 59% of our student cohort are women.  The tables below reflect student commencement and completion data at Western since 2015.

completionsbygenderstudentsbygender

Graph of Completions by Students with Disability

Completions by Socio-Economic Level Graph
Completions by Indigenous StudentsCommencements by Indigenous Graph

Supporting Equity Across the Student Lifecycle

A range of supports is available to our students to encourage and support equal opportunity and engagement in higher education for all genders in key gender equity focus areas.

Student Collectives, Groups, and Networks

There is a range of student groups that act in advocacy and support roles for our students with specific consideration of gender equity issues.

  • The Women’s Collective provides support for women on a social, political, and cultural platform and engages in discussions and activities that will further develop women's status in society. The Collective also engages in events that support women that come from a background of violence whether it's sexual, mental, physical, or emotional in nature.
  • The Queer Collective is for students identifying as LGBTIQ. This collective aims to help provide peer support, resources and a safe space to sexuality and gender diverse students and those who are grappling with questions or issues relating to identifying as LGBTIQ.
  • The Student Parent Union (SPU) is a group of interested students parents which seek to provide a network to support, advocate and share ideas with other students who are juggling work/study/parent/carer responsibilities.
  • The Ally Network is a group of students and staff across the University who are committed to creating an inclusive and respectful culture at the University for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, and queer (LGBTIQ) community members. you can find out more about this Network and how to get involved on the Ally Network webpage.

You can find out more about the above groups or join by searching the group title on the WesternLife platform.

Safe and Supportive Spaces for Women and Gender Diverse Students

The University also provides a number of safe and supportive spaces on all of our campuses including our Women’s rooms, Queer rooms, and Breastfeeding spaces. Room locations details can be found on the Collectives and the Breastfeeding webpages.

Study and Counselling Support

Counseling and Welfare support services are available to all our students. Students who are being impacted by matters such as parent or caring responsibilities, issues of domestic and family violence, gender-based violence, disability, cultural considerations, or other significant life events may be able to access support or disruption to study provisions to assist them in progressing and sustaining their study.

Contact the Counselling or Welfare teams for advice and information.

Respectful Relationships Program

The Respectful Relationships team works to promote respect, equity, and inclusion across the University with the aim of ending sexual assault, sexual harassment, and gender-based violence and creating a safer community for our students and staff.

Find out more about respectful relationships initiatives and how to get involved here.

respectfulrelationships

Gender Equity Advocacy, Policy, and Research