Women in Science: Maximising productivity, diversity and innovation Report prepared for the Federation of Australian Scientific and Technological Societies Sharon Bell with assistance from Kate O’Halloran, Jesslyn Saw and Yu Zhao October 2009 ISBN: 978-0-9775991-5-8 Acknowledgements: This report has benefited from the sponsorship and input of a number of colleagues. I would like to acknowledge the input of: Dr Cathy Foley, Associate Professor Ruth Foxwell and Bradley Smith from FASTS; Professor Penny Sackett and Dr Mary Quilty from the Office of the Chief Scientist; Lawrence Doherty University Statistics Section, Higher Education Group DEEWR; Daniel Edwards from ACER; research assistants Kate O’Halloran, Jesslyn Saw and Dr Yu Zhao; and editor Robert Sheehan. A number of colleagues have kindly provided valuable feedback and comments, thankyou: Professor Douglas Hilton, Professor Gillian Bushell, Professor Elizabeth Deane, Dr Kathy Korsch, Professor Roger Dean, Professor Glyn Davis and Sir David Watson. FASTS would like to acknowledge that this report was undertaken with the financial assistance of the Australian Government Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research. The views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of the Australian Government. 2! Table of Contents List of Tables............................................................................................................. 4! List of Figures ........................................................................................................... 5! Abbreviations............................................................................................................ 6! Executive Summary.................................................................................................. 8! Section 1: Background........................................................................................... 12! "#"!$%&'(!)*+!,*-,(+-.###################################################################################################################################################"/! "#0!1(2!34(5('#################################################################################################################################################################06! Section 2: What we know....................................................................................... 31! 0#"!7,8(-98)8,!,%+((+!:%94' ############################################################################################################################################;"! 0#0!<%++8(+'!9*!=*5(->'!:%+98,8:%98*-!8-!7,8(-,(##############################################################################################;/! 2.2.1 Horizontal segregation!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"#! 2.2.2 Vertical segregation!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"$! Section 3: What has been done............................................................................. 45! ;#"!?-9(+-%98*-%@!8-898%98A('#########################################################################################################################################/B! ;#0!C&'9+%@8%-!8-898%98A('###############################################################################################################################################/D! Section 4: What We Don’t Know............................................................................ 54! Section 5: Conclusions and Recommendations.................................................. 57! References .............................................................................................................. 60! Appendix.................................................................................................................. 69! Listing of Graphs:................................................................................................... 70! Explanatory Notes: ................................................................................................. 74! 3! List of Tables! Table 1.1 The main findings of the report from the NAS: Beyond Bias Barriers: Fulfilling the Potential of Women in Academic Science and Engineering ..........................................................22 Table 1.2 The main findings of the report from the OECD: Women in Scientific Careers: Unleashing the Potential....................................................................................................................23 Table 3.1 Strategies for improving the climate of higher education institutions for women......46 Table 3.2 Key findings of the Smart Women – Smart State Taskforce..........................................50 Table 3.3 Key findings of the Careers Review of Engineering Women (CREW) project .............50 4! List of Figures Figure 1.1 Female Higher Education Enrolments by Broad Field of Study 1983 – 2000 .............16! Figure 1.2 Female Higher Education Enrolments by Broad Field of Education 2000 - 2007.......16! Figure 1.3 Academic Profiles by Gender; Natural and Physical Sciences 2007 ..........................18! Figure 1.4 Academic Profiles by Gender; Agriculture and Environmental Studies 2007............18! Figure 1.5 Academic Profiles by Gender; Engineering and Related Technologies 2007 ............19! Figure 1.6 Academic Profiles by Gender; Information Technology 2007 .....................................19! Figure 1.7 Occupational Categories and Sub-Categories by Percentage of Females 1996-2008 ......................................................................................................................................................20! Figure 1.8 Percentage of Females by CSOF level 1995 - 2008 .......................................................21! Figure 1.9 Percentage of females by CSOF level 2009 ...................................................................21! Figure 1.10 Doctorate population by field in which doctorate was completed, Australia 2006..26! Figure 1.11 ARC Discovery Projects Recommended Funds commencing in calendar year 2009 ......................................................................................................................................................26! Figure 1.12 Age-sex structures of academic staff and the Australian workforce 2001 ...............27! Figure 1.13 Australia: Academic Tenured Staff, Age Sex Structure, 1991 and 2006 ...................27! Figure 1.14 Australia: Academic Contract Staff, Age Sex Structure, 1991 and 2006...................28! Figure 2.1 The career options of students who undertake undergraduate degrees in Science, Engineering and Technology ....................................................................................................32! Figure 2.2 Traditional academic career progressions in Australia................................................32! Figure 2.3 The non-traditional academic career progression ........................................................33! 5! Abbreviations AAS Australian Academy of Science ABS Australian Bureau of Statistics ACER Australian Council for Education Research ACG Australian Centre for Geomechanics ANZSCO The Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations AOU Academic Organisational Unit APESMA The Association of Professional Engineers, Scientists & Managers ARC Australian Research Council ASCED Australian Standard Classification of Education ASCO Australian Standard Classification of Occupations ASSET The Athena Survey of Science, Engineering and Technology ASX Australian Securities Exchange ATNWEXDEV Australian Technology Universities’ Women’s Executive Development ATSE Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering AVCC Australian Vice-Chancellor’s Committee CHASS Council of the Humanities and Social Sciences COSEPUP Committee on Science, Engineering, and Public Policy CRC Cooperative Research Centres CREW Careers Review of Engineering Women CSIRO Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation CSWP Committee on the Status of Women in Physics DEET Department of Education, Employment and Training DEEWR Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations DEST Department of Education, Science and Training DETYA Department of Education Training & Youth Affairs DIISR Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research DPF Division of Particles & Fields ECU Equality Challenge Unit EOWA Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Agency FASTS Federation of Australian Scientific and Technological Societies FTE Full-time equivalent ICT Information Communication and Technology NAS National Academy of Sciences (US) NBEET National Board of Employment, Education and Training NCVER National Centre for Vocational Education Research NGO Non-government organisations 6! NHMRC National Health and Medical Research Council NTEU National Tertiary Education Union NSF National Science Foundation OECD Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development PAID Partnerships for Adaptation, Implementation, and Dissemination PM&C Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet PMSEIC The Prime Minister's Science, Engineering and Innovation Council POWRE Professional Opportunities for Women in Research and Education SET Science Engineering and Technology STEM Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics SWAN Scientific Women’s Academic Network UAEW Universities Australia