The SAGE Athena Swan Program
We're proud to hold a SAGE Athena SWAN Bronze Award which is a gender equity, diversity and inclusion accreditation for the Australian higher education and research sector.
Learn more about UQ's commitment to The SAGE Athena Swan Program
Discover Gender Steering Committee Terms of Reference (PDF, 156KB) (PDF, 143.8 KB)
Your committment to gender equity
As a staff member we encourage you to access the resources that are available to you, and take the Merle Pledge.
Access resources
A number of research and resources are available to inform the development of evidence-based diversity and inclusion initiatives in your organisational unit.
SAGE and Athena Swan
- Science in Australia Gender Equity
SAGE has developed a number of resources for Athena Swan Charter members. - Evaluating the effectiveness and impact of the Athena Swan Charter
An independent report into the impact of the Athena Swan Charter (completed in 2013). - AIBE Centre for Gender Equality in the Workplace – Employer of Choice for Gender Equality: Leading Practices in Strategy, Policy and Implementation
Women in STEM decadal plan
- Women in STEM Decadal Plan (PDF, 5.6MB)
The Australian Academy of Science and the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering have come together to develop this 10-year roadmap for achieving sustained increases in the participation and retention of women in STEM, from school through to careers. This plan outlines 6 opportunities for Australia to achieve this goal. - UQ's Women in STEM Decadal Plan (PDF, 618.9 KB)
Read UQ's response to the STEM Decadal Plan, which outlines how UQ will champion women in STEM now and into the future.
Academic career path
- Increasing diversity in prizes and awards
- "Women, Careers and Universities: Where to From Here" (PDF, 1.2 MB)
This research paper explores the gendered nature of employment, working conditions and career patterns of University staff, with emphasis on key points in the career life cycle. - "Busting myths about Women in STEM"
The Office of the Chief Scientist released this paper dispelling 4 persistent myths facing women in STEM.
Performance relative to opportunity
- ARC Research Opportunity and Performance Evidence (ROPE) Statement
The Australian Research Council issued this statement in 2014 regarding their commitment to fair access to competitive funding by ensuring assessment processes evaluate quality rather than just volume or size of research contribution. - "Career Progress relative to opportunity: how many papers is a baby 'worth'?"
This research paper provides some insight into the application of the principle of performance relative to opportunity.
Business case for gender equity and leadership
- Queensland Women's Strategy 2022–2027 (PDF, 3.8 MB)
- Australian Government: STEM Equity Monitor 2025
- Gender Equity Insights 2020 Presentation: Delivering the Business Outcomes
- Measure for Measure: Gender diversity in Australia
- Diversity wins: How inclusion matters
- Analysing gender and institutional change in academia: evaluating the utility of feminist institutionalist approaches
- It starts with us – The Leadership Shadow
This management model from a partnership between Male Champions of Change and Chief Executive Women suggests actions and behaviours that support progress in gender diversity.
Gender pay equity
The Gender Pay Gap – WGEA
The Workplace Gender Equality Agency analyses and contextualises the gender pay gap in Australia.
The gender pay gap calculator – WGEA
The Workplace Gender Equality Agency provides this tool to identify and analyse the causes of the various types of organisational gender pay gaps.
"Tracking pay equity: The impact of regulatory change on the dissemination and sustainability of equal remuneration decisions"
This paper provides valuable insights into the impact of regulatory change in addressing gender pay equity.
The UQ pay equity guide (PDF, 668 KB)
Equal pay for equal work. A phrase we have all heard, and a phrase, despite the best intentions of many, that has been consistently overlooked by institutions, leaders and managers, and employees themselves.
We understand that pay inequity is a complex ground, and that’s why we have created this guide. To help explain to the UQ community about the gender pay gap, its causes and the benefits we will receive if we work towards achieving gender pay equity in our work areas, and academia as a whole.
For leaders and managers: this guide provides actionable suggestions to ensure you are an inclusive leader and help employees that seek to achieve gender pay equity. Key steps include: liaising with your Human Resources team to begin the process, devising an internal strategy to tackle pay inequity through the help of a pay audit, and annual performance and pay reviews. Another key consideration in today’s world is the impact, challenges and opportunities that flexible work provides for reinforcing pay equity and challenging gendered stereotypes at the same time.
For UQ staff: this guide outlines key steps you can take to begin exploring opportunities where they present themselves to have a positive impact on pay equity. While this needs to be enabled by institutions, it is never too early for you to begin informing yourself about this journey.
UQ negotiation guide (PDF, 164.5 KB)
We all know the role of negotiation skills. Whether it’s to make a sales pitch or apply for a research grant – good negotiation skills play a crucial role. They play an even more crucial role in one’s own career development.
Research demonstrates that gender impacts negotiation styles, outcomes and even women’s desire to engage in negotiations for personal gains.
This guide has been created by the Gender Steering Committee under the auspices of the UQ SAGE Athena Swan program.
For leaders and managers: it highlights the role you play to enable an equitable workplace. It does this by providing action items which foster an environment that abandons gendered expectations and stereotypes, and puts the focus on an employee’s growth and performance.
For UQ staff:it provides tangible opportunities, especially for women, to start their negotiation journey for their own career progression and remuneration outcomes. We know it is not an easy journey, burdened with so many social gendered biases, but this guide is a great place to start!
Parental leave
Parental Leave Resources for UQ Staff
UQ’s Workplace Diversity and Inclusion team has developed a suite of resources to support staff returning from a period of parental leave, and to support supervisors support staff returning to work from a period of parental leave.
2024 National Working Families Survey - Parents At Work
“Mothers’ perceptions of support in the workplace: a sense of entitlement or resignation?”
This research paper from UQ’s Professor Gillian Whitehouse investigates mothers’ ‘sense of entitlement’ or ‘sense of resignation’ to workplace supports for family responsibilities, and whether change is needed before effective work/family supports become part of Australian working parents’ normal expectations.
Equality enabling parental leave: prevalence and distribution in Australian universities
Motherhood: A potential source of bias in employment decisions
This paper explores the impact of gender stereotypes on the perception of parents in the workplace provide valuable insights into gender equity.
The “Bad Parent” assumption: how gender stereotypes affect reactions to working mothers
This paper explores the impact of gender stereotypes on the perception of parents in the workplace provide valuable insights into gender equity.
Intersectionality
UQ Guide to Inclusive Language (staff login required)
This guide provides information for staff about how to apply the principles of inclusive language to foster a safe and inclusive environment for all staff and students.
UQ Guide to Inclusive Events (PDF, 475.2 KB)
This guide provides an overview of the protocols, best practices, and principles that should be applied to all UQ events to ensure they are inclusive and supportive for all attendees.
UQ Guide to Inclusive Meetings (PDF, 1.3 MB)
This guide provides information for UQ staff about how to ensure that professional meetings are as inclusive as possible for all staff.
UQ Guide to Increasing Under-represented Staff (PDF, 3.9 MB)
This guide provides an overview of UQ-endorsed special measures which may be applied to improve UQ’s staff diversity through targeted recruitment selection and appointment activities.
Unconscious Bias
re:Work
Google’s program provides numerous useful resources.
Harvard Implicit Bias test
Test your own implicit bias within 15 minutes with this test backed up by Harvard research and techniques, with instant results.
Take the Merle Pledge
Many high-profile conferences, events, task forces and media outlets lack gender balance, despite there often being no shortage of qualified women to contribute.
To help address this, the Panel Pledge initiative encourages academics and professionals to commit to requesting gender equity as a condition of participation on any panel or conference.
The concept was originally developed through a partnership between Women’s Leadership Institute Australia, Male Champions of Change and Chief Executive Women.
At UQ, we have tailored this to create an initiative known as The Merle Pledge.
The Merle Pledge is an effort to substantially improve women’s representation in public and professional forums.
We encourage academics and professional staff from all backgrounds and genders to take the pledge, and join the worldwide movement to advance gender equity in academia and other occupations.
The Pledge
I commit to:
- increasing the visibility and contribution of women in public and professional forums
- advocating for gender balance and diversity in all professional events, panels and conferences
- encouraging my colleagues and friends to participate in the Merle Pledge
- questioning and raising the issue of gender balance and diversity when the opportunity arises
- actively encouraging and supporting the voices of women
- honouring the Merle Pledge whenever I am invited to speak
- standing up for what is right
- persevering and not accepting excuses for unequal representation.
When attending or organising panel sessions and conferences, I will:
- Make it known to my colleagues that I stand for gender equality and that I will only support, attend and organise events where a gender diverse panel or line-up of speakers is offered (or all reasonable attempts have been made).
- Request information about other panellists, speakers, and participants in advance, and ask explicitly how gender balance will be achieved.
- Insist, as a condition of acceptance, that women be encouraged to participate and contribute in a meaningful way.
- Offer names of women from within UQ or my network, or direct the organisers to resources that can assist them in finding women to participate.
- Question the composition of panellists and speakers, and reserve my right to withdraw from events, even at the last minute, if gender balance and diversity is not achieved.