Research Week 2019: People Value: Engaging Western Sydney University’s ‘Greatest Asset’ through Gender Equity

At last year’s SAGE Research Week event, our keynote speaker Professor Sharon Bell (DVC Strategy & Planning) reminded us that people are academia’s greatest asset. This year we consider how we might institute strategies and ways of thinking at Western Sydney University that value the whole person as we strive for gender equity: "People Value: Engaging Our Greatest Asset through Gender Equity". An opening address by Associate Professor Kate Huppatz (Sociology, Western Sydney University), “Gender and Labour in Higher Education: What is at Stake?” will offer important insights into the key gender issues arising across our sector. The opening address will be followed by an engaging presentation, "Gender Equity Matters: Our Status and Our Vision", by SAGE Academic Lead Professor Janice Aldrich-Wright and SAGE Project Coordinator Dr Kieryn McKay. This presentation will give detail of the University's submission for Athena SWAN Bronze Award and will map the commitments and objectives laid out by the University's four-year SAGE Action Plan (2019-2023). A Gender Equity Showcase of initiatives underway at Western Sydney University will be held throughout morning tea, which will be provided. The event will culminate with a thought-provoking keynote address by superstar academic Professor Cordelia Fine, Professor of History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Melbourne. Professor Fine's feature presentation is titled "Women's Value: Beyond the Business Case for Diversity & Inclusion". Cordelia is an academic psychologist and one of Australia’s foremost gender scholars. She has been hailed “a brilliant feminist critic of the neurosciences” (Times HES) and won the Edinburgh Medal 2018 for her work in challenging gender bias in science and for her contributions to public debates around gender equality. Her most recent book, Testosterone Rex (2017), won the Royal Society Insight Investment Science Book Prize 2017 and was shortlisted for the Orwell Prize 2018. All sessions will provide time for audience Q&As, expertly Chaired by DVC (Research & Innovation) Professor Deborah Sweeney.