Women in Higher Education Leadership Symposium

Designed to build on the momentum of our 2022 symposium, challenging and inspiring participants to make some change. We are excited to announce our theme for this year: “Unpacking the Mental Load and Preparing for the Future of Work”, generously sponsored by UAC.

Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the higher education sector has seen rapid shifts and transformations in the way we work and how education is delivered. Alongside the move away from classroom-based pedagogies towards remote learning, we have also experienced the rise of automation and technological advancements such as chatGPT. The future of work is rapidly changing, and the research suggests women are disproportionately impacted by these shifts.

Keynote speaker

Professor Leah Ruppanner, Professor of Sociology and Founding Director of The Future of Work Lab at the University of Melbourne, will set the scene with an overview of the major technological changes and the skills required if we want to remain competitive in the future of work. She will then highlight how these shifts in the world of work impact our mental loads. Providing the latest empirical data on the mental load that often derives from home-life – the emotional thinking working women do as mothers, partners and caregivers – we will discuss how these are often intensified by the challenges posed by managing flexible and hybrid working. For women in the higher education sector, we have seen an increase in employee burn-out and attrition post-pandemic. To address this, Professor Ruppanner underscores emerging solutions to help employees, especially those with caregiving responsibilities, manage their mental loads between home and the workplace.

Panellists

Following the keynote we have an exciting line up of speakers to discuss the topic and pose some challenges for participants to debate:

• Professor Jaraad Haar of Ngāti Maniapoto and Ngāti Mahuta descent, Professor of Management and Māori Business at Massey University, Aotearoa. A world class ranked researcher focussing on employees (e.g., wellbeing, job burnout, work-life balance, teams, leaders-followers) and employers (e.g., firm innovation, HR practices, entrepreneurship, retention). Within both aspects, hehas a strong interest in Māori cultural factors including mātauranga Māori in business.
• Kim Copeland, Director and Principal Consultant, Avyon Consulting, working with organisations to apply innovative integrated approaches to mental health that focus on prevention, mental health promotion and response.
• Professor Lisa Jackson Pulver Deputy Vice-Chancellor Indigenous Strategy and Services at the University of Sydney. Professor Jackson Pulver is an academic leader, a recognised expert in public health, a prominent researcher, a visionary, and a tireless advocate for Health and Education.

This session will be facilitated by Elka Mallon, ATEM Board Director, representing Victoria and Tasmania, and Senior Manager, Operations and Planning, Monash University.