Over the past 25 years, women’s participation in academia and advancement into senior leadership roles has increased significantly; however, notable disparities in promotion and recognition remain.
Since 2000, women represent more than 50% of the persons employed in Australian universities. This proportion has increased every year since, except for 2021, where a 0.1 point decreased was observed due to universities’ restructuring influenced by the pandemic. The latest published figures refer to 2024, where women represented 59.7% of the workforce.
To put this in perspective, according to figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, women represented 48.2% of the number of persons employed across all industries in Australia as of May 2025, and women accounted for 71.1% of persons employed in the overall Education and Training industry.
This commentary examines the evolving composition of the Australia higher education workforce, with a particular focus on the representation of women in leadership positions. It also provides an updated analysis following my 2022 publications in Campus Morning Mail and University World News.
Women in leadership positions
Leadership positions are defined as those persons whose current duties or positions are: Academic at Levels D and E (i.e., Associate Professor and Professor), plus Senior Executive Staff and Higher Education Worker Level 10. The latter two categories are considered Professional Staff.
Overall, the proportion of women in leadership positions in Australian universities has increased from 21.0% in 2001 to 44.4% in 2024. On average, the annual rate of growth is 1% over the 23-year period.
A better way to differentiate how this transformation has unfolded is to highlight changes by work function:
- Women in academic leadership position increased from 15.5% in 2001 to 40.1% in 2024.
- Women in professional leadership positions increased from 36.7% in 2001 to 54.8% in 2024.
For those who are in professional roles, gender parity was achieved in 2018 (50.0%) and has since increased to 54.8 per cent in 2024. The growth of Senior Professional staff is due to a continued strong increase in those who occupy a Senior Executive role.
The promotion challenge
The key challenge for universities in achieving gender parity at senior academic levels lies within academic roles themselves—specifically at Levels D and E—rather than within the broader category that includes professional leadership positions.
Universities must prioritise not only the retention and recruitment of academic talent, but also the establishment of robust systems and processes that actively develop, support, and encourage women to pursue and attain promotions.
Furthermore, the ability to attract academic talent is subject to fierce competition as every institution, both domestically and globally, is keen to have more women onboard.
Over the past 25 years, the proportion of women in Level D (associate professors) has increased from 17.0% (or 411) in 2001 to 45.2% (or 3,654) in 2024, while the proportion of women in Level E (professors) has increased from 14.3% (or 422) in 2001 to 35.8% (or 3,385) in 2024.
It is also important to highlight the specific functions undertaken by academics, as these responsibilities can significantly influence career progression:
- The proportion of women in research-only leadership positions increased from 13.2% in 2001 to 41.7% in 2024.
- The proportion of women in teaching-and-research leadership positions has risen from 15.5% in 2001 to 39.0% in 2024.
Gender parity
Back in 2022, I projected that gender parity would likely be attained between 2034 and 2036. However, if current trends in senior academic roles persist, gender parity is likely to be attained by two years earlier than originally forecasted.
Attainment of this goal is likely to depend on several factors: the ability of Australian universities to continue to attract and nurture talent from abroad; the ability to employ both domestic and international students who complete doctorates; and the ability to develop the capacity to retain post doctorates and academic contract staff upon completions of their limited tenure. Furthermore, universities also need to consider the wider societal benefits of converting women casual staff to continuing academic positions.
The disciplines in which academics work matter and bear considerably on career pathways, possibly hindering the ability to be promoted. On this point, universities are urged to develop programs to bring in expertise from other industry sectors to ensure relevance of curricula and bolster interdisciplinarity.
Unfortunately, there is limited information on the disciplines where academics are employed. However, it is in the STEM fields where I think the true focus needs to be, as these are the fields which have the lowest employment rate of women at senior level.
Women Vice-Chancellors
The number of women vice-chancellors in Australia has fluctuated over the period from 2001 to 2024. On average there have been nine women Vice-Chancellors per year. The year with the lowest number of women Vice-Chancellors was in 2011 (6) and the highest was 13 in 2018. Over the 3-year period between 2022 to 2024, there have been 11 women Vice-Chancellors.
Opportunities of becoming a Vice-Chancellor of an Australian university remain limited because of the number of institutions (42), tenure, and inter-university mobility, amongst various other factors.
It’s worth noting that the number of vice-chancellors aged between 60-74 increased from 21 in 2021 to 26 in 2024, whilst the number of them under the age of 54 decreased from 9 in 2021 to 6 in 2024.
Aspiring Vice-Chancellors?
The total number of Deputy Vice-Chancellors (DVCs) in Australian universities increased from 113 in 2001 to 142 in 2024. Over this period, the proportion of women DVCs rose markedly—from 17.7% in 2001 to 44.4% in 2024. However, progress has plateaued in recent years, with minimal change between 2021 (44.9%) and 2024 (44.4%). As a result, it appears unlikely that women will outnumber men in DVC roles by the end of this decade.
It also remains to be seen how many current DVCs will progress to Vice-Chancellor roles within Australian universities or international institutions over the next five years.
Looking ahead, the composition of the academic workforce will be influenced significantly by the decisions made by academics at Level C (Senior Lecturer), particularly in the post‑pandemic environment. For many, career progression will continue to depend on active engagement in university committees, participation in external professional bodies, and leadership in research projects, including serving as first authors on scholarly outputs, among other factors.
| Proportion of women employed in Australian higher education | |||||
| 2001 | 2007 | 2013 | 2019 | 2024 | |
| All staff | 51.2% | 54.1% | 56.2% | 58.2% | 59.7% |
| Academic staff (all) | 37.5% | 41.5% | 44.0% | 47.3% | 50.4% |
| In leadership positions | 21.0% | 27.8% | 33.4% | 39.1% | 44.4% |
| In academic leadership positions | 15.5% | 23.7% | 29.1% | 35.0% | 40.1% |
| In professional leadership positions | 36.7% | 42.7% | 46.9% | 51.2% | 54.8% |
Compiled by A J Calderon, using staff data files from the Australian Department of Education.
Angel Calderon is a higher education global expert and Director, Strategic Insights at RMIT University.