The achievement of gender parity in a large astrophysics research centre
View/ Open
Manuscript on achieving gender parity in an astronomical research center (361.3Kb)
Access Status
Full text of the requested work is not available in DASH at this time ("restricted access"). For more information on restricted deposits, see our FAQ.Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-023-02079-6Metadata
Show full item recordCitation
Kewley, L.J., Wyithe, J.S.B., Tran, KV. et al. The achievement of gender parity in a large astrophysics research centre. Nat Astron 7, 1525–1531 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-023-02079-6Abstract
In Australian astronomy, women's representation remains at historic lows, despite a decade of initiatives aimed at improving the representation and support of women in astronomy and academia more generally. Drawing from research in the fields of sociology and psychology, we designed a new evidence-based program to increase the percentage of women recruited and retained in astronomy. We applied the identical recruitment method to 47 fixed-term postdoctoral positions across nine universities from 2017-2022 within the ARC Centre of Excellence for All-Sky Astrophysics in 3 Dimensions (ASTRO 3D). Through this method, ASTRO 3D achieved 50% women in 5 years, including 53% women postdocs and 56% women students recruited. A tipping point was reached at 40% women overall, after which women students enrolled in the Centre in accelerating numbers. Evidence-based retention initiatives were highly successful, yielding greater retention of women than men. The percentage of women in teams correlated strongly with the team lead gender, highlighting the importance of diverse team leadership. This work presents a clear pathway for organisations to achieve and retain gender diversity within postdoc and student cohorts without quotas.Citable link to this page
https://nrs.harvard.edu/URN-3:HUL.INSTREPOS:37377544
Collections
- FAS Scholarly Articles [18295]
Contact administrator regarding this item (to report mistakes or request changes)