Women represent almost 60% of Australia’s Higher Education workforce but occupy a minority of senior roles.
Australia has a strongly feminised HE workforce, RMIT data guru Angel Calderon notes in his forensic review of the status of women in Australian HE, published in Future Campus today. Women have comprised the majority of sector staff since 2000 and the Australian Bureau of Statistics reports that the overall Education and Training sector is 71.1% female, compared to a national workforce average of 48.2%.
When analysing leadership roles (Academic staff who are Level D or E and Professional staff above HEW 10), Mr Calderon finds that representation of women has risen from 21% in 2001 to 44.4% in 2024. Interestingly, women are more likely to occupy senior professional roles – with women accounting for 40.1% of senior academic roles and 54.8% of senior professional 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,” Mr Calderon writes.
“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.”
Gender parity at senior levels is likely to be achieved by 2034 – slightly earlier than previously forecast – if current trends continue, Mr Calderon said.
“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,” he notes.
“Furthermore, universities also need to consider the wider societal benefits of converting women casual staff to continuing academic positions.”
Just over a quarter of Vice-Chancellor roles (11) were held by women between 2022 and 2024, Mr Calderon notes. With three VC jobs currently up for grabs, it will be interesting to see how those statistics end up in 2026 – noting of course broader issues with gender looking beyond binary definitions, and also at issues of balance for all genders moving forward.