WOMEESA Newsletter May 2023

President’s note

It has been a good month for gender equity in science, with WGEA announcing that from 2024 it will publish the gender pay gap of every organisation in Australia that has more than 100 people. When this began in the UK it led to more action to improve the gender pay gap and more women asking questions of their organisations about what they’re doing to close the pay gap. This decision has been made because recent statistics show that progress to reduce the gender pay gap in Australia has stalled, even though there are more women in workplaces and management than ever before. It will be very interesting to see the numbers from Earth and Environmental science industries and to hear what our organisations are doing to accelerate change.

We have an exciting month coming up at WOMEESA, with a seminar from Prof. Helen Bostock to celebrate World Oceans Day, our final wikipedia edit-a-thon session for 2023, and our session on inclusion and diversity at the Australian Earth Science Conference in Perth. I hope to see you at some of our events

All the best for the month ahead,

Melanie Finch

WOMEESA President

WOMEESA news

 

WOMEESA seminar: Prof. Helen Bostock

We are thrilled to announce that Professor Helen Bostock will be presenting a seminar to celebrate World Oceans Day with WOMEESA on June 8. Helen will reflect on 20 years of oceanography and progress for women in science. The seminar will be online at 3pm and, for members in Brisbane, will be followed by an in-person meet up. To find out more and register go to this link.

 

Geoscience in action: Advancing sustainable development

WOMEESA was proud to officially endorse a book on geoscience and Earth’s sustainable future, newly out this month. The book is written by geoscientists across the globe (including WOMEESA’s Heather Handley) and it details examples of the diverse ways that geoscientists are addressing climate change and other challenges. The idea is that educators and science communicators can use the case studies to demonstrate how geoscience is fundamental to Earth’s sustainable future. The book was published by UNESCO and the American Geophysical Union and is freely available at this link.

 

Wikipedia edit-a-thon

WOMEESA’s annual Wikipedia project is well underway, but it’s not too late to join in! 

In June we will have our final drop in session to work on wiki pages, publish the new pages and increase the representation of women in Wikipedia.

The WOMEESA wiki edit-a-thon is all about working together to create, edit and improve Wikipedia pages of notable women in Earth and Environmental sciences in Australasia. Any WOMEESA member can participate; you do not need experience editing Wikipedia pages.

If you would like to participate contact Fernanda.AlvaradoNeves@monash.edu.

 

Local meet-ups

WOMEESA organizes bi-monthly local meetups, which are a great opportunity to network with members in your local area and build a stronger community. The next meetups will be held in July, except for Brisbane where the next meet up will be in June. If you have moved cities recently please email us to update your address as we use this to find and email WOMEESA members directly about meetups in their local area (womeesa.network@gmail.com).

The Brisbane meet up will be on World Oceans Day, June 8, after the seminar from Professor Helen Bostock. You can find out more at this link.

You don’t need to be in a capital city to organise a local meetup, WOMEESA members are everywhere! If you would like to organise a meetup in your local area, contact our events coordinator Fernanda.AlvaradoNeves@monash.edu to get help or to let WOMEESA know your plans so we can help you with publicity.

 

WOMEESA at the AESC

We are convening a session on diversity and inclusion in geoscience at the Australian Earth Science Conference in Perth 27-30 June. We love meeting WOMEESA members in real life so if you’ll be attending AESC be sure to find Erin Martin, Caroline Tiddy, Melanie Finch and Alanis Olesch-Byrne who will be representing the WOMEESA committee.

 

Other WOMEESA news

 

Empowering Earth scientists in Reconciliation

The GSA Geoscience Indigenous Collaboration and Engagement Specialist Group (GICE) is running a workshop called Empowering Earth scientists in Reconciliation on June 26. The workshop is part of the Australian Earth Science Conference but it will be offered online as well as face-to-face to ensure as many people as possible will have the opportunity to learn from and with First Nations presenters. All the information you need is at this link.

 

Increasing calls for free period products

Calls for period products to be made freely available in public bathrooms have increased over the last couple of months, as survey results reveal the extent of period poverty. Plan International Australia found that 57% of menstruating adults report it has become more difficult to afford period products in 2022 compared to previous years. This disproportionately affects people who earn less than $50k a year, which includes most university students. An inability to afford period products causes students to stay home from school or university as they ‘make do’ with products that are not fit for purpose. After a grassroots movement in 2021 at Monash University that saw staff providing period products in bathrooms, Monash Uni installed free period product dispensers across their campuses in 30 bathrooms. A similar grassroots movement is currently underway at JCU Townsville, where it has been estimated that 1 in 10 higher education students can’t afford to buy period products every single month. Period products are just as necessary as toilet paper and soap in bathrooms and should be as widely available.

 

STA survey on STEM career pathways

The STEM Career Pathways survey is being run by Science and Technology Australia to gather information on current conditions and career patterns for scientists, technologists, mathematicians and engineers. The survey takes about 10 minutes to complete and they are keen to hear from anyone working in a STEM career as well as those who have left STEM careers. The survey is open now and closes on 14 June 2023.

 

Gender pay gap data of businesses to be published

New legislation introduced this month means that in early 2024 the gender pay gap of every company with more than 100 employees will be published. WGEA has collected this data for a few years and has provided information back to companies about their gender pay gap and what they need to do to reduce it. However, many businesses have not been following the recommendations because there has been a decline in the rate of reduction of the gap. It is thought that this change in reporting will accelerate closure of the gap because that is what has been seen in other countries after this sort of reporting commenced. When WGEA publishes its gender pay gap each year there are always people who push back, saying that the gap exists because historically there have been gender equity issues that keep women out of the workforce, but none of that exists now, so the gap should close itself over time as women rise through the ranks. However, we are seeing a decline in the rate of reduction of the gap, which means that even though women’s workforce participation is higher, the gap is not closing as quickly as it should be. Publishing these data means that we will all be able to look at which businesses are making meaningful, substantial efforts to increasing gender equity and equality, so we can make informed decisions about the most equitable businesses to work for.

 

more parental leave for dads reduces sexism

A new study has revealed the far-reaching effects of increasing parental leave for Dads. The researchers investigated the attitudes of new parents after a real-world policy change in Estonia that tripled the amount of fathers’ leave. They demonstrated that the new leave caused an increase in gender egalitarian views for both parents and raised support for pro-female policies. This study demonstrates how policy changes can change the way people think about gender roles.

 

Public consultation about gender equality

There are two Australian schemes about gender equality that are currently seeking submissions from members of the public .

The Department of Industry, Science and Resources is seeking submissions that detail your experiences with STEM to shape their vision to increase diversity, engagement and skills in STEM and support pathways for diverse groups into STEM. You can make a submission here.

The Office for Women has invited the public to make submissions on the National Strategy to Acheive Gender Equality. They say that the government wants to understand the Australian community’s vision for gender equality before developing the national strategy. Anyone can share their experiences by filling out the survey on this page.

 
 
 

© Copyright 2021. WOMEESA Incorporated. All rights reserved.